HSV-2 Positive then Negative

[regretfulnight]

5 weeks ago I had a one night stand that I am not proud of.  I regretted it right after it happened. Way too much to drink (no excuse) and I couldn't say no.  I am married with a sex life that is almost non existent so that played into it a little. Not knowing this persons history I decided to get a full panel test. Everything negative except HSV2. 1.36 result at labcorp.  I have never had symptoms of anything that would resemble herpes or any other STD. What I have read online is that an short encounter like this has a very low risk of transmission and the false positive results are common,  so I decided to get tested again, 3 days after the first test.  I just received the results and they are negative, not a specific number just the <0.90 designation, this time from quest labs.  This was a relief for sure, but can I assume this is really negative and the labcorp test was false positive?  Is 5 weeks too soon for an accurate test?  Thanks

[regretfulnight]

Did you get the WB and if so, what was your result?

[veryworried420]

My Quest result was positive but my Labcorp result was negative, 12 weeks later. I don't think one lab is more accurate than the other and only the Western Blot is best. The lack of trust in a blood test result from a test lab that isn't WB is very troubling esp when someone has no symptoms and no scabs. And that it takes 8-12 weeks with no sex to test makes this all very confusing for people who want to know of their health. This is why my PCP told me not to test and not to trust the result I got from Quest, unless I had scabs. My PCP literally told me in mid-August that I didn't have Herpes and to not trust the test result I got 2 weeks earlier. And then I lost 3 months with no sex and I lost a lot of sleep from the stress of thinking I had it.

Basically, I am proof that you can test and test again without having sex in between and get different results. And if you are not celibate (this includes no oral sex), then you can't even test again until you are celibate for 2-3 months. Which means that everyone who says they are clean (or neg for herpes) has no clue if they slept with anyone since their last test. That so many people have it is not shocking since blood test results (except WB) are not trustworthy and not everyone waits 3 months to have sex before testing.

[regretfulnight]

At the 8 week mark and I took another test. Quest IGG HSV2 Specific and again came back negative <0.91.  Does Captia vs HerpesSelect tend to lead to more false positives with one vs the other?  If I were truly positive at 8 weeks, shouldn't both test pick it up?  Think I will take one more test at the 12 week mark just to be sure.   First test was lapcorp (captia) with a 1.36 and now two later tests at Quest (HerpesSelect) with negative results. Should that final test be at Quest again?

[Life360_Dave]

For your wifes protection, you would need to wait the 3 months for complete conclusive. The testing issue here is only for her as im sure you did not contract herpes. Most at risk are in long term mono relationships where one partner is infected.

[regretfulnight]

Do you think I should retest at the 8 week mark as well?  Thanks for your input.

[Life360_Dave]

Hi, 5 weeks is a bit too soon as 8 weeks is a true indicator. Your first test fell into the false positive range, as any number below 3.5 would need retesting. But since you fall into a very low risk group, i would certainly believe you didnot contract it from a one time affair and if she did not have any mouth or genital sores at the time, your risk is close to zero.
However for your wife protection, to test at the 3 month mark for certainty.