Worried about Herpes Blood Test

[winterfun]

Hello,

About 6 months ago I was dating a female that had vaginal problems (infection) after our first sexual encounter.  She went and had testing done and came back to tell me that she had a yeast infection and tested positive for genital herpes via culture test.  In response i went and got tested for everything a few weeks later (including Igg and Igm blood herpes tests).  The results came back negative.  After reading, i found that sometimes herpes blood tests can give a false negative if taken too early.  About 2 months later (about 3 months after having sex with the infected person) I was retested.  Again the results negative both Igg and Igm for HSV I and II.  Do you think i should still be worried that I could be infected by HSV?  I have had no symptoms to make me believe that i have the virus; however, im afraid to have sex with a girl that I'm starting to date for fear of infecting her.  Could i be an asymptomatic carrier and test negative?  as in would my blood not show antibodies since i've never had a visual infection?  

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  

Thanks.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

It would say you are unlikely to become positive in the next month, yes.
Those test results would indicate that she is newly infected with herpes.

Terri

[winterfun]

would you say getting another herpes test is unnecessary?  That it is unlikely that since i was tested 3 months after contact and it was negative that i probably dont have HSV II?   Also, what do you  mean by "However, if her provider did an antibody test and a swab test and the swab test was positive and the antibody test negative, then there are lots more questions than answers here. "

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

The antibody test will pick up infection, regardless of symptoms or not.  The IgG test for HSV 2 is about 97-98% sensitive (that is, out of 100 cases it will pick up 97 to 98 of them, if you wait long enough after infection to be tested (that is, about 4 months).  It will pick up about 91% of those infected with HSV 1.  So you have a little time to wait, but I would say, the chances of showing up positive now are very small.  I would also say the chances of you infecting her are very small, given to above percentages.    It is certainly more likely that your previous partner was infected with herpes and didn't know it.  However, if her provider did an antibody test and a swab test and the swab test was positive and the antibody test negative, then there are lots more questions than answers here.



Terri