Not sure about low negative results -- little terrified.

[notpleased]

I recently went in for a visit to my doctor, I received general blood tests and tested negative for everything except for HSV-2. I have had no symptoms at any point.

My doctor seemed very uncomfortable with "diagnosing" me with HSV-2. He mentioned "possible exposure" and said to "be vigilant" after spending some time exploring these forums, it seems that with the Herpeselect test, there appears to be a fair number of false positives when low scores are received. I don't have my test results for HSV-1, and I was verbally told that I tested at 1.2 for HSV-2. (With 1 being negative).

My last sexual encounter included a one-time brief (less than 1 minute) unprotected intercourse and was 3 months (13 weeks ago). That partner was recently tested (he reported that he was negative across the board and did not specify that he was tested for HSV-2, but likely did (we used to share a doctor). The last encounter preceding that was 6 months ago and protected. Years of blood tests and I've never had this. So I'm pretty sure it isn't a long term issue -- same doctor.  

I will definitely be retested in a few months. My doctor sounded reluctant to even bother, but that seems silly to me.

My questions are:

How common are these false positives?
Is it common to receive a 1.2 score and actually have HSV-2? How connected are timing of exposure and score?
I'm kind of freaking out, should I be freaking out?

[notpleased]

correction -- it was IGG 1.5, not 1.2 for HSV2, and negative for HSV1

[daisy315]

Many people can be HSV2 + and be asymptomatic there is no such thing as being "exposed" to HSV2 you either have the virus or you don't and you have tested positive albeit a low reading the fact remains you are + and therefore need to protect anyone you have sex with in the future ....
I have and always will be curious as to why many Doctors don't feel the need to test patients or give advice on HSV2 particularly when it can initially be quite an upsetting time for those who are worried about it or have been diagnosed with it ....  

Daisy

[notpleased]

I think the doc might have been subscribing to the 1.1-3.5 needs to be retested theory, which I've seen a lot of commentary about on here, although I have to say I definitely agree that this was handled completely incorrectly as I likely could infect other people if I wasn't made aware of the risk on the second call to the doctor (note I fully plan on either not having sex or genital contact or disclosing before. I am definitely going to be retested, but I am curious about how often this takes place as well as how common it is to have a long-term asymptomatic infection and still have a low titre. Does this indicate a new infection? No matter how much I read, I'm still just confused about how to interpret these test results, positive or not. If it is a new infection, I'm wondering how long I might have until an outbreak, amongst other questions. All roads seem to lead to, probably but not definitely. Maybe I'm just being over hopeful.

Anyone?

Thanks!