HSV 2 False Positive

I recently discovered my husband has been cheating on me with a girl from high school he reconnected with on Facebook. We have two precious children. Needless to say, I am devastated. Never in a million years could I predict the situation I am now facing.

When I found out he was cheating, I demanded a STD testing for both of us. His test result came back negative for HSV-2. He was not even in the equivocal range. My test came back positive for HSV-2. I have never had any symptoms. My test result was:

HSV-2 IgG Type Spec 1.16

Now, he is convinced I cheated on him at some point in our relationship. I have been with him for 13 years. I have never been with another man. I have never even held hands with or kissed another man. He was my first boyfriend. My first everything. I have absolutely no idea how I could have picked up this STD. I know HSV-2 is not life threatening and being that I've never had any symptoms, not really a big deal. However, I cannot imagine going through the rest of my life having no idea where it came from and quite possibly having it end my marriage. I refuse to stay married to a man who believes I cheated. However, he believes he now has hard evidence I'm keeping something from him.

I know my number is low and a possible false positive so I am currently awaiting the results of an HSV-1/HSV-2 Type Specific retest as well as the results for the Western Blot test.

I have a pretty good feeling I am positive for HSV-1 because my husband insists he never got cold sores until he started dating me.

Possible explanations for how I got the positive HSV-2 result:

1) I am probably strongly HSV-1 positive and that is somehow impacting the HSV-2 result. This will get cleared up by the Western Blot result I guess.

2) My husband is really HSV-2 positive but won't show a positive result until as late as four months from last possible exposure (which will be Feb 2012) because the time it takes to get a positive reading varies from person to person. Is it even possible for me to show a positive before him if he gave it to me?

3) HSV-2 was possibly passed to me from my mom when I was born. She is currently setting up a test to see if she has it. This doesn't explain why I never passed the disease to my husband in 13 years together though.

4) I was sexually abused as a child, although I have no recollection of this whatsoever and it wouldn't explain why I never passed the disease to my husband in 13 years together.

5) When I was pregnant with my first child in 2006, my OB said I had no chicken pox immunity (even though I am sure I caught chicken pox in 1st grade). Being that my daughter was about to start preschool in August 2011, I got the chicken pox vaccine in July 2011. At the same time, I got a TB test so I could volunteer in the class (not sure if that info is relevant or not). I got what I think was chicken pox from the vaccine. I had at least 30 bumps all over my body. Could getting this vaccine have influenced my test result in any way? Could it have given me HSV-2?

6) In July, we went camping at a lake and did a lot of jet skiing, inner tubing, etc. I know at least one family member who was with us is sexually promiscuous. Could I have picked it up through any of those activities like sitting on the jet ski after someone who was infected, or sharing an inner tube ride? The inner tube did not have drainage in the middle.

Can anyone comment on the likelihood I really have HSV-2 and which of my six possible explanations for contracting it are reasonable/ridiculous?

Thanks.

[bobrope45]

It may sound difficult to you, but you should wait for the WB results. If you only had sex with your husband and he's HSV2 negative, having HSV2 is not really a plausible possibility for you.

There are tons of issues with low positive, as Grace will most probably tell you. You've done the right getting the WB!

[CanExplainThis]

He is the only one I've ever had sex with or any type of intimacy for that matter. I'm worried that somehow his negative result is not real. Is it possible that he is only HSV2 negative right now because 4 months since his last possible exposure haven't passed yet and his test result is therefore not accurate? Can my test show a positive result before his does if he gave it to me?

[CanExplainThis]

He is the only one I've ever had sex with or any type of intimacy for that matter. I'm worried that somehow his negative result is not real. Is it possible that he is only HSV2 negative right now because 4 months since his last possible exposure haven't passed yet and his test result is therefore not accurate? Can my test show a positive result before his does if he gave it to me?

[gracefromHHP]

Dr Hook has already advised on the the follow up for your test results.  get your provider to help with the proper testing to confirm your status. A hsv2 igg of 1.16 is almost certainly a false positive unless it's a recently acquired infection for you.  Since your husband has been your only sex partner ever, at this point the best option is to just wait, repeat his herpes igg blood testing at the appropriate time and if he's negative you know for sure yours was a false positive.

the times for testing for your husband are chlamydia and gonorrhea anytime after 1 week after he last had sex with his other partner. syphilis anytime after 6 weeks. herpes, hiv and hepatitis anytime after 3 months post encounter. Make sure he gets all his follow up testing at the appropriate times so you can be sure of his test results.

are you going to stay together? If so, consider using condoms for the next year to cover yourself from hpv too. We don't test for hpv but  most people clear the infection in less than a year so a condom going on when the clothing comes off ( not waiting for actual penetration to put it on ) will help to lower your risk of hpv by 90%.