Getting Crunched by the Numbers, Help!

I am a 38 year old female. I recently had a herpes test after my boyfriend told me that he had a previous partner that tested positive. My doctor told me that my result was not negative or positive but, “equivocol” and that I would have to take it again. When I asked him to explain, he said that the test I got was something called a herpaselect (or maybe herpeselect) that tests for both herpes 1 & 2. He said the herpes 1 test was clearly positive at “5.2,” but he said the test for herpes 2 was not clearly positive or negative (it was a “3” by the way) and that I would need to get tested again.

I turned to the internet to try to learn more about this test and what my results meant. What I’ve learned it that answer to the question of whether someone with a test score of “3” is positive or negative for herpes 2 seems to depend on who you ask. After reading some of the posts here, I’m even more confused by the numbers than ever. Some with similar scores were told by their doctor that they were positive others were told they were negative, while still others were told the result was inconclusive. I even saw where one of the doctors on this forum said that anything under “3.5” should be considered negative.
But then I’ve also saw people talking about scores like “>1.10”, “>0.90” etc.

I am completely confused. Are they talking about different tests or what? I am frantic to try to understand what this all means for me and am flabbergasted that I can’t seem to get a straight answer. Given whats at stake, I can’t believe there is so much confusion over the interpretation of these test results.

Can someone please explain these numbers? What are the positive and negative “ranges” for my test? Is my score really “equivocol” as my doctor said?  And if so, what do I do now? Retest? How can I get an answer to the simple question of whether or not I have herpes 2. The “not knowing” is wrecking my life. Please help.

Sincerely
Crunched By the Numbers