The CDC does not recommend routine testing of the population for HSV, that is correct, but they do state clearly that many experts recommend HSV 2 testing as part of an STD screen so it is completely appropriate that this was done for you. We never do an STD screen without including herpes antibody testing, which is the mostly likely thing that we find positive in an infection screen.
It is true that 50% of people with an IgG between 1.1 and 3.5 are false positives. The closer the value is to 1.1, the more likely it is to be a false positive. Overall, in the seven years of records that we have kept on this topic, 5.5% of the population that we test for herpes falls into this low positive range. That means that 95% of the time, we get a clear positive (greater than 3.5) or negative result. So most of the time, confirmatory testing is not needed. But occasionally, like in your case, it is needed. You need a herpes western blot from the University of Washington. This can obtained by requesting a kit from the University of Washington be sent to you or your provider for blood to be drawn and returned to them or you can become a patient of our clinic by phone and we can arrange for blood to be drawn at a lab near you and sent to UW. Right now, those are the only two ways it can be obtained. It used to be more widely available, but for a variety of reasons, too complicated to describe here, this is it. And you need to know for your future sexual life. I’m not sure that your doctor fully understands the implications if this test is truly positive. If the confirmatory test is positive that means you are both infected and infectious to others. It does NOT mean you have simply been exposed to the virus. It is important to know your partner’s status. If he is negative then you have things to discuss. Since you’ve been together for a long time, if he is not infected, he may not get infected but there is definitely a chance that he could be. Perhaps he won’t care, which is fine, this is a decision for the two of you to make between you. But I think it best that you both know where things actually stand with this virus in your bodies so you can make intelligent decisions about what to do next. If the confirmatory test is positive, by the way, and he is negative, there is no way to know how long you have been infected. If he is positive, you can’t know if it came from your current partner or from 30 years ago.
I hope this is helpful for you. If you other questions, please ask. You have two follow up posts you can make with your subscription.
Terri