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Confusing Herpes test part III
My second post of January is now closed so I have to create this one for a following. You can look at the two previous post since they are directly related.
Like Dr. Handsfield said, I should probably have let it go long ago, but after the indeterminate Western Blot result of December 2013, I have been wondering a lot about my true HSV-2 status. So, I got another (third) Western blot. This was not a convalescent specimen, but a standalone WB. It was exactly 22 weeks after the December 2013 one.
Once again, I got the same result i.e. negative for HSV-1 and indeterminate for HSV-2.
My summary of testing if thus: one quite high positive ELISA, one Immunoblot with a negative result per FOCUS standard but still not the common negative result, one negative Western blot and two indeterminate Western blot. More precisely (in addition, in parentheses, I put in weeks unless otherwise specified, the last three or four times I had sexual activities before taking the first three tests):
August 16 2012: ELISA HSV-1 0.3 HSV-2 4.8 (1,12 days,15 days,6)
September 21 2012: Immunoblot: HSV-1 non reactive HSV-2 specific band
reactive but common band non-reactive (6,7,8,11)
November 8 2012: Western blot both negative HSV-1 neg HSV-2 neg
(13,14,15,18)
December 10 2013: Western blot HSV-1 neg HSV-2 indeterminate
(1,3 (no penetration, genitals might have touched briefly), > 5 months)
May 13 2014: Western blot HSV-1 neg HSV-2 indeterminate
I must say that this uncertainty is very stressing me out and I do not really know what to do and what to say or not say to partners. Could I ask, once again, to get your opinion on the matter? Should I pursue this covalescent WB as suggested per the lab?
Like Dr. Handsfield said, I should probably have let it go long ago, but after the indeterminate Western Blot result of December 2013, I have been wondering a lot about my true HSV-2 status. So, I got another (third) Western blot. This was not a convalescent specimen, but a standalone WB. It was exactly 22 weeks after the December 2013 one.
Once again, I got the same result i.e. negative for HSV-1 and indeterminate for HSV-2.
My summary of testing if thus: one quite high positive ELISA, one Immunoblot with a negative result per FOCUS standard but still not the common negative result, one negative Western blot and two indeterminate Western blot. More precisely (in addition, in parentheses, I put in weeks unless otherwise specified, the last three or four times I had sexual activities before taking the first three tests):
August 16 2012: ELISA HSV-1 0.3 HSV-2 4.8 (1,12 days,15 days,6)
September 21 2012: Immunoblot: HSV-1 non reactive HSV-2 specific band
reactive but common band non-reactive (6,7,8,11)
November 8 2012: Western blot both negative HSV-1 neg HSV-2 neg
(13,14,15,18)
December 10 2013: Western blot HSV-1 neg HSV-2 indeterminate
(1,3 (no penetration, genitals might have touched briefly), > 5 months)
May 13 2014: Western blot HSV-1 neg HSV-2 indeterminate
I must say that this uncertainty is very stressing me out and I do not really know what to do and what to say or not say to partners. Could I ask, once again, to get your opinion on the matter? Should I pursue this covalescent WB as suggested per the lab?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Glad to help. Take care. EWH
Dear Dr Hook,
I know you are absolutely right about accepting the situation and thank you for your opinion. It is just sometime difficult to be rational when those things happen to you personally.
Just a quick follow up to finish this post.
In between the time I posted here yesterday and the time of your reply, I had a phone appointment with someone from the Virology Research Clinic at U. Washington. He asked the peoples at the lab to compare my December 2013 WB with my May 2014 WB (22 weeks apart) to see. We just talked again and he told me that the result is that on the 14 bands, one is reacting and the reaction is exactly the same in both WB, no change at all in 22 weeks and the other bands are all non-reacting.
His opinion is thus the same as yours and Dr. Handsfield’s that I do not have HSV-2 and that I have this particularity to trigger this particular band. With these three opinions, I really think I can move on confidently now. Thanks a lot.
In summary, I am going to stay the hell away from herpes testing unless perhaps one day (I will continue to have a sex life) I get obvious signs. However, I will continue to regularly (every year at least) test for others common STI (HIV, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea) as I have always done.
Thanks again
I know you are absolutely right about accepting the situation and thank you for your opinion. It is just sometime difficult to be rational when those things happen to you personally.
Just a quick follow up to finish this post.
In between the time I posted here yesterday and the time of your reply, I had a phone appointment with someone from the Virology Research Clinic at U. Washington. He asked the peoples at the lab to compare my December 2013 WB with my May 2014 WB (22 weeks apart) to see. We just talked again and he told me that the result is that on the 14 bands, one is reacting and the reaction is exactly the same in both WB, no change at all in 22 weeks and the other bands are all non-reacting.
His opinion is thus the same as yours and Dr. Handsfield’s that I do not have HSV-2 and that I have this particularity to trigger this particular band. With these three opinions, I really think I can move on confidently now. Thanks a lot.
In summary, I am going to stay the hell away from herpes testing unless perhaps one day (I will continue to have a sex life) I get obvious signs. However, I will continue to regularly (every year at least) test for others common STI (HIV, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea) as I have always done.
Thanks again
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
. Welcome back to the Forum. this time I will be trying to help. In preparing to do so, I read your earlier interaction with Dr. Handsfield in which he concluded " I remain confident you don't have HSV of either type.". I agree.
I do not disagree with the steps the doctor took in your initial evaluation (i.e. the swab and antibody test). Since then, unfortunately the combination of your bad luck (see below) and your decisions to keep testing have been a casebook example of why we do not encourage blood tests for herpes. You have something in your blood, most likely an antibody, that happens to cross react with some of the peptide bands present in the Western blot assay as well as in some other antibody tests for HSV-2. The fact that the pattern of reactivity has not developed into a full pattern consistent with herpes infections is proof that you do not have herpes, just a bit of bad luck antibody-wise (it is not uncommon for antibodies to one virus or bacteria to partially react with viruses or bacteria other than the microbe which initially stimulated antibody production).
It is now time for you to accept, you do not have HSV-1 or HSV-2. My sincere and earnest advice is to accept this and to not worry further and certainly not test more. You have proven that your results are not likely to change. EWH
I do not disagree with the steps the doctor took in your initial evaluation (i.e. the swab and antibody test). Since then, unfortunately the combination of your bad luck (see below) and your decisions to keep testing have been a casebook example of why we do not encourage blood tests for herpes. You have something in your blood, most likely an antibody, that happens to cross react with some of the peptide bands present in the Western blot assay as well as in some other antibody tests for HSV-2. The fact that the pattern of reactivity has not developed into a full pattern consistent with herpes infections is proof that you do not have herpes, just a bit of bad luck antibody-wise (it is not uncommon for antibodies to one virus or bacteria to partially react with viruses or bacteria other than the microbe which initially stimulated antibody production).
It is now time for you to accept, you do not have HSV-1 or HSV-2. My sincere and earnest advice is to accept this and to not worry further and certainly not test more. You have proven that your results are not likely to change. EWH
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
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.
