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Positive HSV 1 & 2

June/2022:

HSV1 iGG: 2.23
HSV2 iGG: 1.39

Married for 15 years. Never had any encounter with anyone other than wife. Had a routine health checkup. Got positive for both HSV 1 & 2. Confused that how it can happen. Few years back when we tested, nothing was positive. Took a MMR vaccine on Dec/2021. We go to health club and normal occasionally. Any of those would have caused this? Feeling depressed.
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207091 tn?1337709493
COMMUNITY LEADER
Your hsv2 result is quite likely a false positive. Anything between a 1.10 and a 3.5 needs to be confirmed. A 1.39 has about an 85% of being a false positive.

(https://westoverheights.com/forum/question/history-of-negative-hsv1-2-new-low-positive/ - trigger warning - this thread talks about sexual assault)

False positives happen because the hsv IgG test looks for things in the blood that have a certain molecular weight, and sometimes the test picks up normal blood proteins that have a similar weight.

You can choose to ignore it, which would be an absolutely reasonable choice, or you can get another hsv2 IgG test, or get a Western Blot test.

Your doctor can order the Western Blot test. If you need something to convince them to do it -

https://www.cdc.gov/std/treatment-guidelines/herpes.htm

It discusses the false positives in that article.

Has your wife tested?
Helpful - 0
4 Comments
Thanks for your inputs. I’m planning to get western blot. My wife tested and her results are:
Hsv1: 1.09 (equivocal)
Hsv2: <0.91 (negative)
If your wife is negative, and she is your only partner ever, then you have to be negative, too. I'd feel fine calling that a false positive and just moving on from it.

Your hsv1 is a low positive, though that's less likely to be a false positive.

It's up to you if you decide to do the Western Blot. I don't see a huge need to do it, but I do understand peace of mind.

If you do decide to do it, let me know your results.
I did my western blot. Both HSV1 and HSV2 came back negative!

Thank you for support and guidance!
Congrats!! :)

I'm happy to hear it, and thanks for the update. It will help others. Take care!
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