IGM / IGG Herpes

[bayce]

Likelhiood of HSV2?

I had a "sore" on my penis that might have just been irritation. I went to the 24hr Urgent Care place as it was a weekend and the Dr. there thought it was probably herpetic. They did lab work. The next day I went to my normal doctor for an office visit and he looked it over and decided it did not look herpetic and it had noticeably improved from the day before. He also ordered some lab work. Both sets of tests came back "equivocal" for HSV 1/2 IGM and the Urgent Care place did a test for IGG that came back negative for HSV2. It has been 3 months and I went for my follow up today and I have not had anything that could be an outbreak since. My doc declined to do an additional IGG test and said he didn't think it was herpes. I got tested a few years ago for IGG HSV2 and was negative and have only had one gf with which I did not use condoms since then.

I have had bad experiences with the Urgent Care place previously and they misinterpreted the IGM equivocal result as positive, and the practice of using IGM for HSV seems problematic at best so I don't really trust them or their  visual diagnosis. However, the nature of two equivocal results around .96 makes me think that perhaps there is a good chance that I do have HSV2 and my normal physician doensn't want to alarm me further.

Does this require further testing?
*suspicious irritation area lasted 36 hours on penis
*I do remember getting myself caught in my zipper the day before
*urgent care doc thought it looked herpetic, normal doctor thought it did not
*2 x equivocal tests IGM HSV 1/2
*Negative HSV2 IGG
*No recurrence 3 1/2 months

[gracefromHHP]

correct - the igm test isn't helpful for herpes.

congrats on getting the answers you needed :)

[bayce]

Hi Grace,

I called into my doctor's office today and they said they had the latest lab results. The girl said the doctor would have to call me, but I made her read me the results. Unless she misread, here are the results:

HSV2 IGG Negative 1.10 is positive).

So, I am pronouncing myself HSV2 negative after successive negative HSV 2 IGG tests 4 months apart with the last possible exposure being over 3 months ago.

Getting three IGM tests and all being in the equivocal range is troubling, but the research I did indicated that the IGM test was of limited diagnostic utility and prone to false positives and the IGG results supercede it.

Thank you for your help,

[bayce]

Hi Grace,

I went by my doc's office this morning and he had the lab draw blood for herpes 1 and 2 IGG tests. Thank you.

[gracefromHHP]

it's unfortunate that her provider didn't test her :(  when it's something 1 out of every 2-3 of your patients has ( hsv1 ) and 1 out of every 4-5 of your patients has ( hsv2 ) then it should be routinely screened for.   It also would've given you answers as to if it was worthwhile even repeating your testing again too.

if you need help with your test results when you get them, you know where to post them :)

[bayce]

I had a regular partner and we have since separated. She has never had a symptom of herpes but went to her doctor on my urging. I figured that if I had herpes she had given it to me since I had a negative IGG a few partners before her, and those partners were few and far between and used protection. I had assumed her doctor would do a test but she did not think it was necessary based on no direct evidence.

I think I will go and get an IGG for HSV2 again. I am, frankly, just scared of being positive. But it will be better to find out and have piece of mind or deal with the issue like an adult.

Thanks, Grace. I read through the boards and your input is invaluable to the community here.

[gracefromHHP]

equivocal igm results are pretty much meaningless.

at this point, cover your bases properly with a type specific herpes igg blood test just so you have peace of mind and can move on.

do you have a regular partner? if so, have they been tested for herpes to know their own status?

grace