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Avatar universal

Needing Clarity

Hi. I've been married for 24 years and never been with anyone since meeting my husband. But I suspected he's been cheating so I got full range of STD tests and received my results 4 weeks ago which were >5 for HSV 1, and >5 for HSV2 IGG TYPE SPECIFIC AB. Anything > than 1.10 is positive and my doctor said she believes that at my level, my exposure to HSV2 was NOT 24+ years ago before I met my husband, and is more likely I got it within the last year. I have never had symptoms of genital herpes. I have had cold sores (in my nose) for a few years though which I guess is the HSV1.

I told my husband and a few days later and he confessed to being with other women over the last year. He got tested and his results were:

HSV-1, HSV-2 by      62.20      
Virus Type 1
AB IGG (PT; SER; QN;)
Reference Range: 0.00-0.90

I'm baffled and want to know:

1. How can I be positive for HSV2 but he be negative when he's been cheating on me and I've been completely faithful?
2. How can he be positive for HSV1 on test #2 at > 62.2, but also be negative for HSV1 on test #1?
3. Do these results mean that test #1 was a combination of some sorts for HSV1 and HSV2?
4. Shouldn't he have had another test just for the HSV2 in his lab work?
5. His doctor told him he's negative for HSV2. Does that mean with certainty that even with his fooling around, I had to have gotten it over 24 years ago (and never gave it to him) and still I tested at the >5 level?  This is just not making sense!

If anyone out there can help understand this and get clarity I'd really appreciate it. My world is spinning with all the recent revelations.
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Avatar universal
Blood test are very accurate for HSV2 and give you a positive or negative result whereas a swab is really only fully reliable in a positive.

Did your husband have a PCR test on his blood? or an IgG Ab test?

Anyways, he's had the wrong test. He must have a type specific for HSV1 and HSV2.

It is also quite possible that your partner had HSV2 coming into the marriage and infected you only in recent years. It is not possible from a blood test to tell when the infection was acquired if the first test you have is positive. The values high or low do not reflect duration (in fact they often decrease in testing over time!)
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Avatar universal
Blood work for herpes is not always accurate. A swab is the best test, but you would need an open sore or be shedding for that type of test.
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Avatar universal
Argh - the above results had formatting issues and should read like this:


HSV-1, HSV-2 by Real Time PCR
Reference Range 0.00-0.90
Result: 62.2
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