GHSV 1 Test Results

[wuttheck9950]

Okay I am pretty sure I am being hopelessly optimistic here but it just doesn’t add up. Around 5 years ago I was diagnosed with GHSV by visual exam no swab was taken and no medicine was prescribed. An IGG blood test was taken and it came back neg for both 1 & 2, makes since if it was a newly acquired infection. Close to six months later I had what was seemed to be a recurrence. I went to the Dr. this time a swab was performed which did come back pos for GHSV 1. Every year since then I have had my normal yearly exams and STD screenings. Even though I should believe I am positive from the swab I always ask to have an IGG test for type 1 along with type 2. I have now had 4 negative IGG blood test for type 1 and 2 stretching over about a 5 year period. I know that those tests do miss positives but can it miss mine that many times? Here is the real kicker. About a month ago I had what exactly looked and felt like a recurrence. I rushed to the Dr. to get it checked on and had a swab test performed. That test came back neg for type 1 and 2. How can any of this be? I know that swab tests are the most accurate when finding a positive result but is there a possibility the positive was a mistake based off of all the neg results spread over 5 years? Please help I am horribly confused.

[gracefromHHP]

I wouldn't even both with the WB, that's the best blood test we currently have it and it still misses 1 out of every 10 hsv1 infections.

as I said, you know what you have and where you've had it. Not everything that goes on in your genital area will be due to hsv1 genitally and thankfully it tends to reoccur infrequently.  I wouldn't doubt your lesion culture at all.  

[castello80]

Grace - my intentions are not to confuse anyone, so I don't understand why you're blasting me for asking for clarification on her post and recurrence. To insinuate that my objective is to confuse people is ridiculous and unprofessional.

Cultures are highly reliable, but nothing is 100% because there is margin for error in the handling of your swab (although it's probably very low). Plus, it seems like you had a culture swabbed immediately during your recurrence, and it came back negative, which is strange. I'm not completely convinced you have it, and there are no certified experts in this forum, so I think it would be best for you to consult with leading herpes expert, Terri Warren, who is on MedHelp as well in the Herpes Expert Forum. If it turns out you do have HSV-1, don't be too hard on yourself about it since 50%+ percent of people in the U.S. have it and that percentage increases with age. By the time we're in our 70s, 90% of us will test positive for HSV-1, so more than likely you were bound to get HSV-1 at some point or another.

Here's a link to Terri Warren's forum if you choose to follow up on this issue. You can also become a patient of her clinic.
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Herpes/show/339

[wuttheck9950]

Thanks grace. Grace you seemed pretty convinced I am pos. should I do a western blot? What if that comes back neg. do I believe that or do I have to carry some uncertainties? Gee I wish this thing was more black and white.

[gracefromHHP]

she had a + lesion culture initially.

please don't try to confuse someone who is already having a hard time accepting their diagnosis.

grace

[castello80]

Your post is rather confusing. I just read your post, and you probably don't have genital HSV-1 if you've never had a positive culture. Nowhere in your post does it say a culture was ever positive including the original visual diagnosis. Your post says you were diagnosed visually for genital HSV-1 and never had a swab taken at that time. I've never heard of a doctor being able to distinguish between different types of herpes through only a visual exam. However, in the closing sentence you say you had a positive culture. What one is it?

Secondly, if herpes is to cure itself, which it probably does in only a very few cases, it is probably where infections are not in their site of preference. People will never know if their body cured it or not since once exposed the antibodies will never drop back down to a negative level. HSV tests measure the amount of antibodies that fight the virus, not the virus itself.

[wuttheck9950]

I just have done it because I have read the rare instances of a false positive cultures. I never have symptoms which yes I know is common with ghsv1 but then to get a neg on what I was sure to be a reccurance sort of really makes me wonder. And I went to the dr the very next day I started having symptoms. When I was swabbed the whatever it was still lasted another 5 or so days so getting swabbed at the beginning of the episode surely should contain virus particles. Like I said I know it's a long shot but crazy things do happen I just was looking to get a second perspective from someone with more knowledge.

[gracefromHHP]

recurrences don't shed as much  and for as long so getting a negative lesion culture this last time isnt' unusual either.

why do you doubt your hsv1+ culture and feel the need to confirm it through blood tests?

why are your tests always negative for hsv1? The tests we currently offer only look at a small part of the igg response to herpes infection. not everyone makes the same proteins to be detected on the tests which is why especially for hsv1 igg testing, there is such a false negative issue.  

you know what you have and where you have it. Certainly testing periodically for hsv2 in between partners isn't a bad idea to keep an eye on your hsv2 status.

grace