HOW CAN I TEST POSITIVE/MY HUSBAND NEGATIVE

I have been married 21 yrs.  In 2001 I had sex with a man other than my husband.  My husband had oral sex with a woman.  In December 07 we separated for a short time.  I had sex with my husband in December.  A day or two later I had an outbreak of sores on my genital area.  I had noticed what appeared to be a healing sore on his penis.  In January we separated again.  We had sex 3 weeks ago.  Again, a day or two later I developed a sore on my genitals.  This time I had a culture.  It turned out to be pos for herpes.  I had a bloodtest 2 weeks after that, which turned out to be positive.  I had been suspecting that my husband had had an affair.  He also had a bloodtest 2 weeks ago.  His turned out to be negative.  I have not been with another man.  Could he have been exposed back in December and passed it to me and still bloodtest negative.  We never had any testing done in 2001 and neither of us had symptoms.  He says he has remained faithful.  I don't know what to think.  Can you offer any advice.  Also, how could I suddenly have these symptoms after so many years.  My husband will be tested again in a couple of months.  If he turns out to be negative again, I am at a loss.  The only other thing I can say is that I had a brazilian bikini wax  at the end of last summer.  Please help!

[Edward W Hook, MD]

The history you have given is most consistent with one of you having given the infection to the other.  It may take 3-6 months to develop antibodies to a herpes infection (different people develop antibodies at different rates) and, in a very small proportion of persons, the test may take even longer to become positive.  I would recommend he be re-tested at that time with a type specific, gG-based herpes blood test such as the HerpeSelect.  In the interval, you may want to talk with your doctor about chronic suppressive antiviral therapy to reduce the frequency and severity (if they are) of your recurrences.  

Excellent information about herpes can be obtained by accessing excellent informational web sites such as the one run by the American Social Health Association (disclosure, Dr. Handsfield and I are both on the Board of Directors of ASHA). Hope this helps.  EWH

[PALMO]

Yes, he is getting retested.  So, you are saying that he could have been infected 6-7 months ago and still have a negative bloodtest?  The fact that I am already positve does not mean that I necessarily infected him.  He could have infected me back in December and still not have developed enough anti-bodies?

[PALMO]

One more thing...does having herpes make fibromyagia and chronic fatigue syndrome worse.  It seems I have been in a constant flare up since contrating herpes.  Thank you for you time.  I appreciate it iimmensely!

[Edward W Hook, MD]

The fact that he has a negative blood test at this time does not necessarily mean that you infected him. It could still be the other way around.

There is no good medical literature about the interaction between herpes and fibromyalgia but it is logical that they might interact to make each other seem worse.  EWH

[PALMO]

If he has the Herpeselect test in 2 or 3 months and it turns out negative again, does that mean that he did not give this to me?  Would you recommend he be tested yet again?  I do not think he had an IGG test.  I think he had an IGM (if that makes sense).  I am so depressed over all of this.  Also, when I had my first outbreak in December, my teenage daughter used my razor.  She has never had a sexual experienc, I know for sure.  When we talked about this last week she said she had an itchy little sore.  I am terrified that she has this.  My doctor sent me an orfer for a bloodtest for her.  I feel this has come about because I feel my husband had an affair this year.  In the recent year before we separated he slept on our couch most of the time.  I think we had sex 2 times.  I'm sorry  about this, but it is all so devastating.  So, back to the question, even if he turns up negative again, does that mean he definitely did not give this to me?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Nothing in medicne, unfortunatley, is absolute.  If he turns up negativ however, it dos make it far less likely that he gave it to you.  When he is tested, be SURE that he is tested for HSV 1 and 2, IgG using a type specific test such as teh HerpeSelect.   There are many tests which give unreliable results.  Do NOT bother with an IgM (for you, him, your daughter or anyone else) - their results are often wrong and misleading.  Good Luck EWH

p.s.  It is unlikely your daughter got HSV by using your razor

[PALMO]

Thank you Dr.  I appreciate the time you have spent.  

[PALMO]

Dr...You never spoke to the likelihood of contracting hsv from a brazilian bikini wax.  It was a few months after having that done that I began having symptoms.  Can you speak to that.  Thank you.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

The reason I said nothing is because there is no risk from a brazilian bikini wax.  there wasa a prologed, rather odd exchange on this forum earlier this summer in which a client expressed that concern (actually, she was the person doing the waxing) but it was unfounded.  EWH

[PALMO]

I HAD GENTITAL WARTS WHEN I WAS 19.  I HAD THEM REMOVED AND NEVER HAD ANOTHER PROBLEM WITH THAT.  DOES THAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH HAVING SUUCH A HIGH POS HERPES TEST.  I THINK MY TEST WAS 4.89 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.  THANK YOU.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

No, there is no realtionship between HPV and HSV infections.  Sorry.  EWH

[PALMO]

Regarding my origianal queston, my husband's doctor say that since he tested necgative, he is  not the one who gave herpes to me.  He is gettng tested again in October.  If it turns out positive, his doctor is saying I gave it to him.  I slept with him in December and in July, both times having an outbreak.  i did notice something on his penis and he arrogantly laughs it off now.  If his hext test turns out to be negative, could it be that he didn't get infected, but passed it to me.  I have very good reason to beleive he's been cheating on me for at least the last year.  Maybe longer.  He has a vasectomy and I'm sure he thiks he didn't need condoms.  further more i know he was drinking alot when he was having the affaires.  So, even if he turns out negative wtih the next test, could he still have passed it to me?   I still don't see how I could have aquired this on my own.  If he did pass it to me. is there any way to prove it.  

[Edward W Hook, MD]

These questions are very hard to answer and any answer is really just a guess.  He could have had the infection which was passed on to you and not had a positive antibody test - it can take over six months to develop a positive test.  In addition, there are a small number of people with gential (genital) herpes who never have postive antibody tests.  Not much is known about these people but he could be such a person as well, at least in theory.  EWH

[PALMO]

Which would be the best herpes test to get.  I'm not sure if he had the herpeselect.  Is the Western blot better.  I just want to know which is the best and most relieable.  

[Edward W Hook, MD]

The Western blot from  the University of Washingon Virology Laboratory  is the most reliable test (the so called gold standard). Unfortunately it is also more expensive than the others.  EWH

[PALMO]

Is there a difference between herpes 2 and herpes zoster?  My husband still insists he did not cheat on me (except for the episode 7 years ago)  As I said in my first post, I had unprotedted sex with another man 7 years ago.  Could it have taken this long for any symptoms to show up?  Neither my husband, nor myself had symptoms for all these years.  My husband has had questionable behavior for the last 3 years, we have ben separated 3 times.  So, even though I was dx with herpes 2 with a culture and a bloodtest (about 4.1) could I have herpes zoster?  Are they one in the same and can it be transmitted in a different way than herpes 2?  As I said in a previous post, my husband tested negative.  Is it possible that if he had sex with someone else that same night or week or whatever that he could have passed it to me and infected me?  I'm not sure I told you, but I shaved myself right before we had sex.  Could that have made me more vulnerable if he was a carrier?  As I said, I did notice a sore on his penis and he just says it was nothing.  And now that he has tested negative (he still needs to test again) he is accusing me of having sex with someone else.  I am so confused and upset.  I was reading about herpes zoster and it seems to be different than herpes 2.  And it can also be transmitted differently.  Is there a test to identify herpes zoster?..

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Herpes zoster is caused by the varicella zoster virus, a member of the herpes virus family unrelated to herpes simplex.  The viruses are not transmitted the same way and herpes zoster would not explain your positive tests for HSV.

Shaving would not have made you more vulnerable to herpes. EWH

[PALMO]

My husband has yet to get a second test.  He told me he had the Western Blot test n July.  Since I have not seen the actual test,I don't know if he is telling the truth (a long story).  My question is:  If he has never had an outbreak, would he be more likely to test negative even if he contracted herpes 2.  I'm still confused about this.  My immune system is much more compromised than his in the first place.  I do feel that he was with another woman on the night we had sex in Dec.  That was when I had my first outbreak.  Also, please sxpain what it means to be a a carrier of herpes 2.  Too much does not make sense in my case.  I know my husband has cheated on me within the last year or even for the last 2 years.  He is supposed to get tested again in October.  If he turns up negative again, I don't know what to think.  I'm not sure if he has even had an outbreak.  We had been trying to get back together in July.  that is when I had the second outbreak.  Since my herpes dx, things are very bad between us.  And as I said, he does not tell the truth about anything.  I have heard a lot of conflicting things abuot herpes.  Another question:  I've heard that you can have herpes 2 for years and not know it because you've never had a flare up.  If you were to have a bloodtest for herpes 2, would it show up positive or negative?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Clearly there are important issues of trust and disclosure here which exceed anything that should be addressed on this forum..  It sounds as though there is information being shared by you but not by your husband. That should raise questions for you.

I will offer a few more answers to your questions but it now time for you to work this out with a knowledgeable health care provider, face-to-face.

As far as the herpes questions are concerned:
If a person has a blood test positive for HSV-2, some persons call them carriers.  This is a poor term. The fact is that if a person has a positive blood test for HSV-2 with a good test, they have the infection and can give it to others whether they have outbreaks they are aware of or not.

You are correct that many (about 90%) persons with herpes do not know it. This is because they may not have outbreaks or more commonly, their outbreaks are mild and go unnoticed or are attributed to some other cause.  

It is now time for this thread, which has gone on for over two months, to end.  Admittedly, the topic of herpes is a complex one.  The disease is common with HSV-1 being present in over 60% of adults and HSV-2 (the virus which causes most genital herpes) being present in about 1 in 5 Americans.  For both infections, the majority of people who have the infections are not aware that they are infected, either because they either acquired it without knowing in the past or because they misidentified their herpes as something else.  Much good information about herpes can be obtained by accessing excellent informational web sites such as the one run by the American Social Health Association (disclosure, Dr. Handsfield and I are both on the Board of Directors of ASHA).  I would suggest you take a look for further information. EWH