If he wants to be clear about his HSV 2 status, a western blot is preferred, yes. Probably best not to take Valtrex prior to testing particularly is he might have a new infection. If you are continuing to have sex with him while waiting for the blot results, he should use condoms 100% of the time.
The index value can be a false positive or a recent infection or just an old infection with a low value. This number has nothing to do with the likelihood of transmission. And at this very low value, it is highly likely that this is a false positive – probably 90%.
The link to getting a western blot is here on our website or he can certainly work with the University of Washington and his own health care provider to get this test – both work.
Terri