1.Is a false negative for HSV2 unlikely with the Western Blot completed nine months post exposure?
Totally unlikely! Trust the blot!
2.I read somewhere that you had seen a couple false negatives on the blot throughout your career. Were there any commonalities in those patience? Would the
fact that I also tested negative for type 1 make a false negative less likely or does that not matter?
I have seen 10 people in 38 years test positive by a swab test and negative on the blot. That’s correct. However, most of these were in a time period where we didn’t know that antiviral medicines were impactful on the blot. I think most of them had taken antiviral medicine very shortly after they first had lesions appear, which can certainly impact blot results.
3. I never got an IGG test just the Western Blot. Is that okay? Should I also get an IGG? Are there any scenarios where the IGG is better than the Western Blot?’
You don’t need an IgG – it is loaded with false positive compared to the western blot.
And she recorded the time of the draw and everything. Beyond that, were there any steps she missed? Or is that all she had to do?
She did all she should have done.
Would there be an issue with the serum separator tube (the tube with the yellow top) expiring in that time? When I got my blood drawn I’m pretty sure the lab technician checked the expiration date but I just never saw the expiration date, so now I’m getting nervous about that.
When you get the kit, it’s good for 6 months. If it was drawn less than 6 months after you got the kit, you should be fine.
Sorry another follow up. When the kit arrived I put the ice pack in the freezer per your instructions but I did not put the serum separator tube (yellow top) in the fridge of freezer. Was that a mistake? In retrospect, I feel very silly for not going to a lab right away. I had some work stuff and obligations that made me delay getting the blood draw. Let me know if I need to redo the Western Blot. I am very concerned about infecting my partner if the test is incorrect.
The serum separator tube does not go in the fridge – it doesn’t matter if that one is room temp or cold. It sounds to me like you did everything correctly and you should depend upon the results fully.
Terri