My boyfriend has herpes although his doctor never tested him for it he is on medicine to help keep his outbreaks at bay. I recently decided to go get tested for herpes. My test results came back showing I have immunity to both type 1 and type 2 my doctor's notes were "test shows immunity to both type 1 and type 2, which makes it less likely to develop a new infection for herpes, it does imply though that she's had herpes herself at some point and could theoretically pass it to a person who is not immune if an infection were to reactivate, this is unpredictable unfortunately" since i have no idea what part of the test result page are relevant I will type it all out.
Test Result Ref Range
Herpes Simplex Virus (hsv) :
HSV Ab, IgG 3.1 Hf IV
HSV-1 Ab, IgM WK POS *f [Negative]
HSV-2 Ab, IgM WK POS * [Negative]
HSV Ab, IgG
Reactive
> or = 1.1 IV
Non-Reactive < 0.9 IV
Indeterminate 0.9- <1.1 IV
HSV-1 Ab, IgM
The result is based on flurescent intensity of a screen dilution at 1:10.
HSV type 1 and 2 share common
, therefore, antibodies formed in response to stimulation by one viral type cross-react with the other. Elevated titers to both HSV-1 and HSV-2 may represent cross-reactivity of HSV antibodies rather than exsposure to both HSV-1 and HSV-2. Specific type of HSV may be assumed if only one type shows positive result or one type shows a stronger positive result.
h= High *= Abnormal f= footnote
Could you please make more sense of this for me? I need to know if I have Herpes or if I just have immunities. The way my doctor explained this to my I am just immune and that doesn't sound right to me. I have never had a cold sore or any sort of blister or lesion. Can I pass herpes? Should I start taking meds? Please help me with my confusion
You have not yet had proper testing done. The igm should've never been drawn on you in the first place. http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/248394 is a terrific prior post by HHH that explains why not.
The herpes igg you had done as a non-type specific test so it was pretty much worthless too. You'll need to repeat your test but this time it needs to be only a type specific herpes igg blood test for hsv1 and hsv2. NO IGM. Be very clear about that to your provider since they evidently aren't quite clear on what to order or how to interpet the results from the test they are ordering :(
Your bf also needs to get himself a type specific herpes igg blood test to see what his own status is. Until you know if he has hsv1 or hsv2 you can't really take the "right" precautions. His doctor not confirming his infection and what type it is wasn't the proper way to treat him either :(