Igg positive but no history of symptoms?

Hi,

I am a 33 y/o male who has never had unprotected vaginal sex but have had unprotected oral sex about 10 years ago. Since that time I had regularly been tested for STDs but never for HSV 1/2. I have never had any symptoms of any STD and have never had a cold sore as far as I can remember.

I recently got tested at an annual checkup for HSV1/2 for no other reason then I asked for it.

My results came back

Herpes Serum Type 1 IgG Negative
Herpes Serum Type 2 IgG Positive result : 5.10 reference <0.9

I am married and my wife is pregnant. She is going to be tested tomorrow.

Does the high result of the HSV2 IGG rule out the possibility of a false negative? If i've never had a symptom, and my wife is HSV1/2 negative, what is the recommended course of action?

thanks

[gracefromHHP]

condoms are not 100% protection against hsv2 transmission.  Closer to 40% which is why it's still important to get screened for hsv2 periodically.  Also odds are your wife never got tested for herpes before and since she's pregnant, I'm guessing you weren't using condoms with her right?

Definitely she needs tested for herpes. How far along is she? make sure it's a type specific test that shows the difference between hsv1 and hsv2 infections.  once she has her results, I can better help you both out with all of this and what to do next if her provider can't.

grace

[maxluck]

I've been retested and the other test also came back positive with IGG > 4.

My wife has been tested for both and were reported negative with HSV1 & 2 (no IGG numbers).

As I never had an outbreak and never had unprotected sex except with my wife, I am wondering how this is possible.

Can one determine the site of infection (Oral/Genital) ?
How can I ensure I do not pass this on to her?
Is it possible a Western Blot would return a negative after two HerpeSelect test showed > 4 on the IGG?

[johnt614]

Unfortunately the blood test can't tell you the site of infection, but usually HSV is genitally.

As grace said condoms don't fully protect against herpes so you could have had this for a long time and not known, herpes is usually not on standard std screens.

[gracefromHHP]

How could your wife not have gotten your hsv2 at this point? It really isn't as easy to transmit as it sounds like it should be and many times it's as much about bad luck as anything. Just confirm that she had igg blood test done that was type specific. If so, consider you going on daily suppressive therapy and also using condoms again until she delivers.  You two should also talk to her obgyn about if they recommend you abstaining from sex completely for the 4rd trimester of the pregnancy. How far along is your wife?

If you can afford it, terri warren's new book "the good news about the bad news" is a terrific book for both of you to read. There's a whole section in it on pregnancy too.  It just goes into way more details than the free handbook does.

grace