Hsv2 positive daughter, need advice

[Scaredmom18]

My 18yr daughter was diagnosed with HSV2 today, Doctor said her level is 1.8. HSV1 is negative. About 3 1/2 wks ago she had a pretty intense oral surgery for removal of wisdom teeth, had to be treated for dry sockets twice. She was on several medications, including antibiotics, pain medicine and ibuprofen. During this time she started to get oral ulcers, Dentist said it was common after a oral surgery. A few days later she was having problems with urinating, dryness and itching. She had a urine sample done and had a bladder infection. Then came vaginal ulcers. Back to the doctors again and they say it may be acute reactive aphthous ulcers which is common after a surgery and long doses of medication.  Now after a blood test they say it's HSV2. We are both devasted. She says she has had oral sexual recently but is still a virgin and is adement about it. Both the doctor and myself believe her. Could it be possible this test came back a false positive even with having  symptoms of herpes. It's all so confusing. I don't know if this is all from her surgery or she really has HSV2. I am 100% behind my daughter, I am not mad or angry. My heart is broken for her, she thinks no one will ever want her now and that she's damaged. Please some one help me with advice

[Scaredmom18]

I guess at this point it's a waiting game.

[Scaredmom18]

I hope if this what she has that her outbreaks are not frequent or extremely painful. As her mother I'm so sad and feel helpless.

[feelingundone]

As a father I completely understand. I just see no plausible way she has hsv2. I have been doing this awhile and hsv2 just flat put doesn't add up. Hsv1 is the only realistic posibility.
Future outbreaks if this is hsv especially hsv1 should be mild in comparison with the first. Many people never get another. If it is hsv she is not damaged in any way. Hsv1 is so common. Well over half the adult population has it. Many don't even know it. It will not stop her from any life goals. I know she is very young and this is all a huge shock but believe me, there are way worse things out there. I wish you all the best and hope you get this all steaightened out and get the answers you need. Again, getting her boyfriend tested would ne a huge help. That should provide at least a posibility. Please let me know if there is anything I can help with.

[feelingundone]

I will be happy to help. Just for clarification, did she receive ot perform oral sex? Either way it is extremely doubtful she would acquire hsv2 from either activity. Hsv2 is very rarely an oral infection. It simply doesn't take well to the oral cavity. If someone does get it orally it is EXTREMELY unlikely that person would ever pass it on. Hsv2 when an oral infection has few if any outbreaks and sheds almost never. So I really doubt your daughter would be able to contract  genital hsv2 from receptive oral sex. It's also not realistic that she contracted oral hsv2 from giving oral sex. So all this is good news really.
Hsv2 bloodtests that are positive with any numeric value lower than a 3.5 is suspect for a false positive. Well over 50% are false positived

[feelingundone]

Sorry, somehow i got cut off. Lol last word should be positives. Your daughter even though she had symptoms has a resl posibility of being negative. The fact she had these symptoms oraly and genitally in my opinion is a good sign. The odds of here having hsv2 in both locations are astronomically low.
Hsv2 igg bloodtests are extremely sensitive and can pick up other odd protiens..etc. the test is looking for antibodies, not the actual virus.
I would have her retest in 3-4 weeks and see what the numeric value does. It's very possible the next test could come back negative. If that happens then move on and don't look back. If the value stays the same..ish. then seek out the western blot test from the university of Washington. Contact them and have them send you the kit.
How long ago was your daughters last encounter? The reason I ask is it takes time for the antibodies to build. Testing window to be considered enough time is 12 weeks from last exposure. Most people it only takes 4-6 weeks.
You're a good Mom !! I will do everything I can to help her out.

[Scaredmom18]

Thank you for you reply. She said she only received the oral and this was her first sexual experience besides kissing.  Her boyfriend does have a cold sore on his lower lip this week. I'm not very educated in this but I'm trying to learn and understand. The doctor said with the 1.8 positive blood test result that she has HSV2. I made him retest her and he said they are doing a different blood  test that uses the DNA in her blood. It's all very confusing to both of us.

[Scaredmom18]

Her sexual experience was maybe 2 wks ago. And had all this happen within a week

[feelingundone]

Most Dr's don't know much about hsv or the testing. The fact your dr had no idea about hsv igg tests can be a false negative with low values says it all. Even the ultra conservative CDC has guidelines about confirmation testing. The fact they didn't bother to test the lesions via a swab and pcr test kinda complicates things. If your daughter was tested only a few weeks from exposure then it was reslly to early for a propper test. If she does have hsv then my educated guess is she has hsv1 not hsv2 from the oral sex. Is there anyway her boyfriend would get a blood test? That would solve a big peice of the puzzle.
I am betting he has oral hsv1, which is very common. Genital hsv1 is becoming the most popular genital infection. This is due to oral sex being more and more popular. Now if she does indeed have genital hsv1 then that's better thsn hsv2. Genital hsv1 has way fewer outbreaks. Infact many people never get future outbreaks past the first few. It also sheds so very little. Genital to genital transfer of hsv1 is very rare.
Again, I really doubt she has hsv2

[feelingundone]

If she gets another outbreak have the lesions swabbed and type specific pcr tested. Unfortunately hsv1 igg bloodtests are not all that great. They can miss up to 30% of infections.