Dear Doctors (I posted this on the community forum by mistake, don't mean to double post) --
After having found a recurring lesion on my anus (my doctor, who is an STD-focused doc in NYC, said this looked like a fungal infection, not herpes and prescribed ketanozole), I decided to get a herpeselect ELISA test. I don't have anal sex. I tested positive for hsv 1 and 2. My hsv 1 score was above 1, as it always is. I've had two cold sores on my lips in my life, so I know I already have that. Anyway, I have been exhaustively reading your answers about false positives (crossing my fingers, hoping against hope), and I see that my hsv 2 "score" of 2 means I have a 50-50 chance of having HSV 2 upon confirmatory testing.... assuming that I am in a low-risk population.
What is a low risk population?
I think I may be high risk, as I am a black female, aged 34. I have had one sexual partner in the past two years, and two summers ago I tested negative (with numbers below .6) for hsv 2. I haven't had sex with a black man since I was 25, and I've had multiple herpes tests since then. So if I have it, it's new. But I'm still a black female. Does that alone make me high risk? I've kissed guys a lot in the past couple of years, but I generally steer clear of sex.
I will get confirmatory testing, but I'm just trying to figure out if the 50-50 estimate applies to me, or if I should start being miserable now. I have a phobia about this.