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HSV 2 IgG false positive?
Hi. I've read many of your informative posts on the topic of type specific HSV tests that are in the "low positive " range but was hoping you could comment on ourparticular situation.
Six months ago my 16 year old daughter had some genital inflammation and was seen by her pediatrician who wasn't sure what it was but started her on augmentin for the possibility of a bacterial infection (?infected bartholin gland cyst) and referred her to a gynecologist for another opinion. The gynecologist saw her the next day and thought it might be genital herpes and sent a type-specific HSV 1 and 2 IgG test as well as an HSV IgM to LabCorp and started her on acyclovir. Two days later she was seen by her pediatrician again and swabs for HSV culture were sent which were ultimately negative although the pediatrician said there weren't really any good lesions to culture from at that point. She also had EBV serology sent that was negative for recent or old infection. The HSV IgM test was negative. The HSV 1 IgG was negative at 0.09 but the HSV 2 test was positive at 1.45. The test performed was the Trinity Captia test. She was started on Valtrex suppression and has had no further episodes suggestive of recurrent HSV.
Her stated sexual history is that she has had only one sexual contact (with a condom but no other details) with a boyfriend about 11 months ago (5 months before the episode of genital inflammation). They were boyfriend/girlfriend for only a short time but have remained friends since then. She met with him shortly after her diagnosis and shared the news with him since she was confident that she must have been infected by him. He denied having any previous symptoms of HSV but eventually agreed to get tested at Planned Parenthood where the test result was negative by his report to my daughter. We don't know what test was done.
Anyway, it didn't seem like everything was completely adding up that she actually has HSV and we found some information on the internet to suggest that there is a relatively high rate of false positivity for type specific HSV results that are in the low positive range. Our pediatrican suggested retesting which was just done through Quest using the Herpeselect test. The results today are HSV 1 = 0.09 and HSV 2 = 1.58.
Where do you think we should we go from here? We now have two type specific tests from different companies that are "positive" so should we stop testing and accept the diagnosis of HSV 2 infection? Or should we retest using either the biokit or western blot test to try to be absolutely sure? Is it wishful thinking on my part that two low positive tests are not necessarily any more predictive of a true positive than only one? Any guidance you could give us would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Six months ago my 16 year old daughter had some genital inflammation and was seen by her pediatrician who wasn't sure what it was but started her on augmentin for the possibility of a bacterial infection (?infected bartholin gland cyst) and referred her to a gynecologist for another opinion. The gynecologist saw her the next day and thought it might be genital herpes and sent a type-specific HSV 1 and 2 IgG test as well as an HSV IgM to LabCorp and started her on acyclovir. Two days later she was seen by her pediatrician again and swabs for HSV culture were sent which were ultimately negative although the pediatrician said there weren't really any good lesions to culture from at that point. She also had EBV serology sent that was negative for recent or old infection. The HSV IgM test was negative. The HSV 1 IgG was negative at 0.09 but the HSV 2 test was positive at 1.45. The test performed was the Trinity Captia test. She was started on Valtrex suppression and has had no further episodes suggestive of recurrent HSV.
Her stated sexual history is that she has had only one sexual contact (with a condom but no other details) with a boyfriend about 11 months ago (5 months before the episode of genital inflammation). They were boyfriend/girlfriend for only a short time but have remained friends since then. She met with him shortly after her diagnosis and shared the news with him since she was confident that she must have been infected by him. He denied having any previous symptoms of HSV but eventually agreed to get tested at Planned Parenthood where the test result was negative by his report to my daughter. We don't know what test was done.
Anyway, it didn't seem like everything was completely adding up that she actually has HSV and we found some information on the internet to suggest that there is a relatively high rate of false positivity for type specific HSV results that are in the low positive range. Our pediatrican suggested retesting which was just done through Quest using the Herpeselect test. The results today are HSV 1 = 0.09 and HSV 2 = 1.58.
Where do you think we should we go from here? We now have two type specific tests from different companies that are "positive" so should we stop testing and accept the diagnosis of HSV 2 infection? Or should we retest using either the biokit or western blot test to try to be absolutely sure? Is it wishful thinking on my part that two low positive tests are not necessarily any more predictive of a true positive than only one? Any guidance you could give us would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
No worries, just want you to get the best info, so just wanted to direct you to the right area.
I am so sorry, I meant to post this to the expert paid forum and messed up. Please ignore and accept my apologies.
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Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
