Herpes blood test IgG IgM?????

[crys1819]

Hi I am new here and I see there is a lot of information on this however I feel my situation differs some. I am 7 months pregnant and for the past year + I have had a burning issue after sex (FYI I am married for 2 years and he is the only guy I have ever been with). 5 weeks + ago we had sex using a condom (yes even though I am pregnant) as recommended from my OB-Gyn to see if it was his semen causing my burning. This time I started burning after and have been ever since then. I have been examined and told it doesn't look like I have anything, just redness and inflammation. I am still burning/hurting though (previously burning only lasted about 20 min. after sex). So I work at a doctor's office and just thought I would have labs drawn to check for herpes just in case (been checked in pregnancy for all other std's). I got my results today and I am more confused/stressed. HSV 1 IgG was negative, HSV IgG 2 was negative, and the HSV 1/2 IgM combination was POSITIVE at 1.18. Well according to MY doctor they said that means I have had a PAST exposure. Could be from anything. Online everywhere it looks like it would be a RECENT infection. I don't see how. The last time we had sex was protected 5-6 weeks ago and unprotected waaaaaaaay longer than that bc it hurts so bad. And I am married to my husband in which we are both faithful. Please explain HOW the IgM could be positive and IgG's negative. I know it says to disregard the IgM but it is hard when the other 2 are negative and I am pregnant. They didn't even act like retesting was necessary. Thanks :)

[gracefromHHP]

igm would reflect a recent infection in theory.

igg reflects a prior infection though you can have a + igg result in as little as 2-3 weeks post infection.  

[crys1819]

Oh and my doctor said that it means PAST exposure/infection. But everything else says RECENT. I even work for a doctor and he said past. Are they just backwards?

[crys1819]

I have read that already but that's why I posted because I was still confused. These people that have posted act like they did have exposure but I didn't that I am aware of. And both my 1 and 2 were negative and the combo was positive. Still makes no sense to me. I am just freaking out because I am pregnant and in my 3rd trimester and do not want to pass something on to my baby.

[gracefromHHP]

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Confusiion-over-other-IgM-Herpes-posts/show/248394  good prior post on herpes igm testing by HHH that might help you better understand why a + igm for herpes really has little meaning.

[crys1819]

Can it really give false positives without there being ANY exposure at all?? That's all I'm confused about. I just don't know how else I would be exposed?

[gracefromHHP]

you can get him tested if you want.  you've been having your symptoms though for awhile and herpes won't only cause symptoms with sex.  

[crys1819]

So is it not possible for my husband to have had it for years and not know it? Because I kinda want him tested for it just to make sure. Can it really give false positives without there being ANY exposure?
And yes they have tested me quite a few times for infections all negative. I have no clue what's going on.

[gracefromHHP]

it's not likely that you have hsv2.  

the igm has a high false positive rate which is why we don't recommend its use on adults for the purpose of detecting hsv2 infection.   I totally agree, no good reason to test you for herpes again.


have they been testing you for vaginal infections properly?
grace