Do IgG and IgM test results vary?

[jfny]

I'm back today from getting the result of a series of blood tests done annually on me...
HIV negative, by the way...
There was three weeks since the last possible exposure when the tests were taken...

The lab used in both cases was the same...Todays reading is:
HSV 2 IgM  0.9
HSV1 IgG  0.2
HSV2 IgG  0.6

I looked at a test done by this same lab 2 years ago (I don't have a copy of last years) and it's reading was:
HSV 2 IgM < 0.8
HSV 1 IgG  0.9
HSV 2 IgG 0.2

Type 1 went down, Type 2 went up since the test two years ago.  Does that have any merit? Do these tests vary by either going up or down?  I'm concerned that since the IgG on the type 2 went up .04 percent means that it is rising and will continue to rise, but that doesn't explain why the Type 1 IgG would go down. Do you know why this is?

To finally put this to bed, since I've read the above posting where Dr. Handsfield says: "Totally ignore your recent IgM result with an equivocal outcome.  Almost certainly it is meaningless."  and since my situation is similar where both HSV Type 1 and 2 IgG tests have been negative in the past and remain so....Can I just go on with my life and if I remain asymptomatic, forget about testing for this again?  I am a worrier, big time and would like to put this behind me. Thanks for your help, I appreciate it...




This discussion is related to Confusiion over other IgM Herpes posts.

[auntiejessi]

The numbers don't mean a thing as long as they are negative.  You could have a .08, and I could have a .09, and we are both negative.

You don't need to be getting the IgM test done - its not that reliable and shouldn't be done on adults.

Your IgG is negative, and that's what counts.

AJ