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Positive Herpes 2 result

Hi!

Recently my boyfriend received his STD results. Everything turned up negative except Herpes


Herpes Simplex virus type 1  ( EIA ): 1.4 (<1.0)

Herpes Simplex virus type 2   (EIA): 2.6  (<1.0)

Is there any chance that his result in HSV 2 can be false positive? I guess that the chance for a false positive is quite low. As I know, the HSV1 in his case is not high enough so that the HSV 2 can be affected by the HSV1 antibodies. Is it necessary to be retested? The fact that I already carry the virus is unavoidable. I will anyway go for a test for seeing how my own status is.    

Thank you very much for any information.
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101028 tn?1419603004
oh great news! Glad you were able to get him more testing to confirm that indeed he did have a false positive!!

grace
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Avatar universal
In the end, the test my boyfriend received turned up negative!!!
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101028 tn?1419603004
you are negative so your bf definitely needs additional testing done like a herpes WB to confirm his status.

grace
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Avatar universal
Is there anyone who is in the same situation? We are really confused here!
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Avatar universal
Hi Grace,

Something is strange here. After 3 weeks' long waiting, I received my HSV test result today. To my big surprise, it shows negative for HSV2.

Herpes simplex virus 1 IgG (EIA): 5.1 (<1.0)
Herpes simplex virus 2 IgG (EIA): 0.6 (<1.0)
Herpes simplex virus 1+2 IgM (EIA): 0.4 (<1.0)

I always thought that I was me who gave the virus to my boyfriend because he was virgin when we became together. How big is the odds that his positive result is false while mine shows negative. How accurate is the EIA test?
Helpful - 0
101028 tn?1419603004
Why worry about herpes in this relationship  if it potentially isn't even a part of it? Your bf needs to confirm his status. you need to know what yours is.

grace
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Avatar universal
Btw, just want to say one more thing.

If the doctor is right, I want to let everyone, who is in the same situation, know about the 'good' news. Don't be worried any more, herpes is not a big deal! As long as you don't feel pain, you can live with it!

(Most of the people have never been tested for Herpes, and they don't even know that they have it. Without pain, you can absolutely live as normal!)
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Avatar universal
Just update..

Today I went to a gynecologist and showed her the Herpes result from my boyfriend. To my big surprise, she just laughed and said: 'Is it the problem?' She told me that it was absolutely not a big deal with Herpes and there was nothing I should be worried about. It doesn't matter if it is HSV1 or HSV2 in question. There are more than 90% of population who are infected by HSV1. HSV1 can present on genital areas as well as HSV2 or the other way around. The effect of those two viruses has no difference at all, both of the viruses can cause pain. It is absolutely nothing I should be worried about, unless I would have a painful outbreak. She told me that there was no need at all to redo the blood test for my boyfriend to confirm the HSV virus. Even if we have Herpes (no confirming from my blood test yet), there is only thing we can do is just be happy and accept it, no big deal at all. HSV is not disease but just a little inconvenience from time to time if you will get outbreak. (Like having cold from time to time, you have fever and you don't feel well, but soon every pain will be gone.) The worst thing can happen is just that the new born infant can have the risk to be contaminated by the mother who has an active outbreak when delivery. But the odds are very low. The test of HSV is never done for anyone if there is no relevant symptoms or the person in question really requires. She was surprised about how my boyfriend got the test done on the whole. The whole worrying about HSV is unnecessary if none of us has pain.

Now I am really confused. In this forum, everyone sounds like that the Herpes is a huge disease and it can almost change one's life. But my gynecologist's attitude on the HSV is that nothing need to be done unless you feel pain. There is even no need to find out if one has HSV or not.. (In fact, she is not the only doctor who considers the HSV situation like that.)

I am indeed confused. Is she really correct?      
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101028 tn?1419603004
at this point waiting for your own test results will be the best thing. once you have the results from them, I can help you figure out where to go next with testing on you both :)

grace
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Avatar universal
Thank you very much for your rapid reply!

My boyfriend got both IGG and IGM done:

Herpes simplex virus 1 IgG (EIA): 1.4 (<1.0)
Herpes simplex virus 2 IgG (EIA): 2.6 (<1.0)
Herpes simplex virus 1+2 IgM (EIA): 1.0 (<1.0)

I think the IgM is done by default. I will be tested on Monday and we will see what I receive.

Thanks a lot again!

Helpful - 0
101028 tn?1419603004
herpes testing is not a part of routine std testing in any country.  unfortunately most folks are like yourself - assume when you ask to be tested you are getting the whole shebang and not realizing that it's only 2 or 3 tests you are getting :(


At this point - you need tested to know your own status. You only want the herpes igg blood test done, not the igm.

Did your bf have the igm or the igg test done?

Herpes isn't near as hard to transmit as folks assume it is. At this point, you don't even know if hsv2 is a part of your relationship or not.  Even if you do have hsv2, odds are that you haven't been transmitting it to all your partners all this time.

grace

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Avatar universal
Thank you very much for your reply.

y STD test I did mtwo weeks before my boyfriend. Everything turned up negative according to what the doctor told me. So the results my boyfriend got came to us as a big chock.

Yesterday we went to the doctor together and asked how came my boyfriend got positive HSV2, but not me. To my big surprise, we found out that the HSV test was never included in my STD exam this time. I have been in several relationships (serious) before my current boyfriend, so that I normally do the STD exam at least once a year for making sure that everything is fine. As I know so far, everytime I just received negative results and had never even thought that I would have any disease. The next question to my doctor was how my last STD exam was? Again, to my big big big surprise, the Herpes test has never been considered as standard STD as default in Europe. In fact, I have never ever in my entire life been tested for HSV!!!!!!!!!! Which is really weird!! HSV is only performed when one has relevant symptoms or one requires. I have never had any visible symptoms as I know.

The doctor we talked to didn't find it as such a big deal. She told us that more than 95% of population have Herpes, which immediately made me think that she really didn't know what she was talking about. It seemed to me that she didn't even understand the results as much as we did (after reading every single herpes thread on the Internet). She just looked at the IGM, which was 1.0 and told us that everything was fine and there was nothing we should be worried about, jada jada... I realized that she was completely incompetent in this area and I asked her to send us to a gynecologist. I will then take a new STD including HSV for seeing how my own status is.    

The possibility that I have been carrying the virus for long time, without knowing it, could be one of the reasons that my boyfriend got a positive result since he was a virgin the first time we had sex. But that is somewhat contradicted by the fact that my previous partner tells me he recently tested negative on HSV. How likely is it that I did not infect my previous partner?

Hypothetically, is it at all possible to receive HSV-antibodies - but not the virus - from one's mother before one is born, which could cause a positive IgG-result? I vaguely remember reading something about the risk for an unborn infant to get the HSV virus from his mother being less than one percent since she transfers her antibodies to the fetus. If so, would the baby carry these antibodies for the rest of his life while being immune to herpes? (The HSV test normally just reads the antibodies one's body has, but not virus.)

I have read about some people being immune to the HIV-virus, does the same apply to the HSV1 and -2 viruses? We are not researcher in this area and I know it has little to do to me and my boyfriend's situation, but it would be interesting to learn more about this.

Thanks a lot for any interesting reply!

I will keep posting with the news and hope it can help all the people who are in the same situation.
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101028 tn?1419603004
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Confusing-Igg-Test-Results/show/771141  is a prior post by HHH that goes into details about the false positive issues for more reading.

Yes indeed your bf needs to confirm his low positive hsv2 igg if he hasn't had any genital symptoms.


Have you been diagnosed as having hsv2 too or are you just assuming that if he has it you have to have it too? ( which is wrong btw )

grace
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