Unusually high IgG levels in HSV-1 testing results

[RainierEagle]

Recently i did my herpes type-specific blood tests, results came a couple of days ago and HSV-1 was positive but HSV-2 was negative. What concerned me was the IgG level reported in the result for HSV-1:

The report says HSV1 IgG level was around 70.2 or so (note that >1.1 is positive), this looks REALLY high, higher than any number I could ever found on Internet forums. Some websites say high antibody level typically means recent infection, is that right?

I'd love to hear expert's opinion here, I'm worried that my recent urethritis (1 week ago) might be corrleated to this, but i don't have any obvious lesions, sores, or any other herpes symptoms on my genital.

[gracefromHHP]

usually if you contract hsv1 genitally, it presents within a week or two and has pretty obvious and "classic" herpes symptoms since it almost always is only transmitted when someone is hsv1 negative prior to the oral sex. symptoms starting 5 or 6 weeks later probably are not herpes related. If you get them again, be seen promptly for a proper evaluation and if they feel they look like herpes, a lesion culture and typing should be done on them.

grace

[RainierEagle]

the encounter was unprotected oral for less than 2 minutes followed by protected intercourse. No i have never been tested for HSV.

thanks for all the help!

[Mistakeguy789]

There isn't any testing yet that will tell you where the HSV infection is without obvious symptoms.  

I think that was the unclear part is the encounter.  Unprotected oral is a low risk and a one time oral encounter is still low risk.  Have you ever tested for HSV in the past using an IgG test?

[RainierEagle]

Hi Grace, thanks again for your answer! Yes the test was done just a week into symptom onset, but the encounter of unprotected oral sex happened about 5-6 weeks ago. So it appears possible to me that those 5-6 week period might be enough for my body to build up a strong immu response hence a clear + on the HSV-1 antibody count...

Regarding other partners, no I don't have any other partner since the last encounter.

Is there any test or anything I can do to determine if the HSV-1 virus is infecting me genitally or orally? (assuming there is no obvious lesion to collect sample from). I know... this could be very hard.


Thanks again for answering all my questions.

[RainierEagle]

Grace, I've been reading lots of your posts these days, it's really amazing to see how much help you've offered to people who are desperately in need of good advice. Thank you so much!!!

I will ask for a re-test next week... yes, i understand it's a + anyway but it's always good to know the real numbers :-)

if I don't have any (obvious) lesion, at least externally, is there any other way I can know if my HSV1 infection is on genital? My urethritis symptoms also disappeared 2-3 days ago, and i was tested negative for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, there was no discharge from the penis either. the only obvious connection seems to be the hsv1 infection, but still not so sure how to make this....