Positive and Negative HSV2 Results

[wineman62]

Folks, I really don't know what to think. I had a protected contact with a female, whose status I did not know. I got nervous and got STD tests done about 3-4 weeks after contact. All tests have come back negative, except the following scenario. The first HSV test was an IGG test (not sure if it was type specific) at Planned Parenthood. The test result came in positive for HSV2 (HSV1 was negative) - at about 1.36. I then took a type specific HSV1/2 IGG test a few days later (done through Labcorp) that was completely negative for both HSV 1 and 2. I went to my doctor at about week 4, and he tested me for all STDs. Everything was negative, except the IGG HSV2 test, which was positive at about 1.34. So, in this 4 week window, I had one slightly positive test (not sure the type of test run by Planned Parenthood), one type specific test at Labcorp which was negative, and one IGG test from my doctor that was slightly positive. There have been no other contacts since this last contact.

During this time, I was feeling some irritated skin sensations underneath the base of my penis - between the penis and scrotum. I have noticed that I think I have sebaceous prominence underneath the shaft of my penis, but I'm not sure if this can cause any skin irritation. It's amazing what you find when you are really looking! I also have what my doctor has determined is come kind of heat rash on both sides of the inside groin area - which I have battled for quite some time - between the leg and groin area. It doesn't really bother me at all, but I wonder if it is a bacterial infection?

Here is the part that I just can't understand. It is now week 12, and I took the IGG HSV1/2 Type Specific test again (done through Labcorp) and HSV1 and HSV2 are both negative. What the heck am I supposed to believe? Am I negative or positive for HSV2?

I am still feeling some irritation between my penis and scrotum, but I have never had an outbreak of any kind. I have several questions that I need help understanding:

1) Is 12 weeks after contact a reasonable amount of time to feel pretty good that I do not have HSV2?
2) Are my previous HSV2 positive test results so low that they could be false positives?
3) If one were really positive for HSV2, wouldn't the level of antibodies increase in the body, making the HSV2 test result numbers significantly higher after 12 weeks?
4) At 4 weeks, I tested negative for gonorrhea, syphillas, clamydia, and HIV was negative after 12 weeks. Are there other STDs that could cause this irritation if it is not from HSV2? What about HPV? I have not been tested for this.

Thanks.

[wineman62]

Grace,

Is it possible the Valtrex can produce low positive or inconclusive results with both the WB and the HerpesSelect? Can Valtrex stop or slow the production of antibodies to HSV2? From what I have read, your body will produce antibodies regardless of the Valtrex, but perhaps there is other data out there that I have not seen. This is really strange.

Any ideas?

[gracefromHHP]

At this point I'd stop the valtrex and repeat the WB at the 6 month point. If they know you already had one questionable WB, they'll compare the 2 of them.

grace

[maya111]

wow i thought the w.b was like gold standered like 99% almost 100% accurate especially w low scores under 3.5.i wonder how many times this happens w the w.b.?  i feel very sorry for you that you have to go though all these tests! You should have had take only take one test and get the results.also thats a ton of money/time/pokes/blood wasted. ;( intermediate is techinacally not positive or negative(more than positive) same as equivicol i guess lol. im wondering if your chicken pox,mono, hsv1, and you taking valtrex i think spoofed your scores. also i would get a immunization titer number for chicken pox etc...(i noticed mine are 3 times over the normal-dont know what that means ;(  ) im just really suprised and dont know what to say or tell you! have you called to talk to anyone at the univ. of washinghton?(also fax those records to someone "knowlegable" and maybe they can help as well) have you tried a rapid bio kit?(tie breaker in some cases-somewhat same senisitivity as w.b.-might be better than those other serology tests) you could try to retest (very costly) oh also try to see an immunologists(might be helpful)
there needs to be more research on this before they digianose more people lol or falsely diagnose

[wineman62]

Grace,

So, I have the results back from the HSV2-WB test. The test came back indeterminate. They noted in the results that there was an "atypical reactivity", which may not be from HSV2. I took this test at 23 weeks, and it's not specifically positive, but not negative either. I really don't know what to make of these results. Is it possible that I am just barely starting to convert, even after 23 weeks? Is it possible that there is something in my body that is triggering these results? Could chicken-pox or mono cause this, both of which I have had?

They mentioned in the results that "full antibody profiles to HSV may take 12-16 weeks to develop, especially if anti-viral therapy was given." I have been taking 500mg of Valtrex every day for over 2 months, perhaps as long as 3 months, so I wonder if the Valtrex has skewed my results to make them "indeterminate"?

What am I supposed to make of these results? I am very confused by this. I would think that by 23 weeks, I would be showing pretty positive if I really had HSV2. Should I retest in 2-3 months? This is really frustrating.

[maya111]

i dunno but i think the captia has less false positives w scores under 3.5 than the herpes select. im not even sure about trinity's scores yet lol

[wineman62]

Grace,

So, it is 23 weeks after suspected contact and I just took the Type Specific HSV2 HerpesSelect test again at Labcorp. I tested slightly positive this time at 1.26. If you recall, I have consistently tested negative at Labcorp, when tested at the 4 week and 13 week marks.

I have consistently tested slightly positive at Quest with the same exact test, ranging from about 1.13 to about 1.4, and through roughly the same time frames as above.

Frankly, I now think I am positive for HSV2. With that said, I can get the WB test done at Quest (test #34534) through an online source - Advanced Testing Center. It's not cheap at $350, but at least I will get some kind of confirmation. Wish me luck and say a prayer that it comes back negative. I will post the results of the WB when I get them.