I have been in a commited relationship for almost 5 years. We are planning on getting married and having kids one day. Two weeks ago I went in to the Dr. because I nicked myself while shaving and I thought it had gotten really infected (maybe a rusty blade, yeast infection from my soap, to much sweating I wasn't sure). When I went in the Dr. told me it wasn't an infected wound it was a herpes sore next to a small nick. We got it tested and I came back positive for herpes.
I have only had 3 sex partners including my current partner and my partner has only been with me. The Dr. said it most likely came from one of my past partners. She said the virus can lay dormant for years before showing signs. However, I told my partner and he got tested. His test results came back saying he has been exposed to the herpes virus but that he did not have it. Which is a relief but at the same time confusing. How can he be clean if I've had it for possibly longer than 5 years and we've been having sex for 5 years? I don't want him to think I've been unfaithful and not to sound like a bad person but I wish he had come back positive so I wouldn't feel so alienated. I've read that the blood and urine test often come back negative because they are "weak" tests and the only way to confirm is by taking a sample from the sore it's self. So is it possible that he has the virus but it is currently dormant and that the test is not 100% reliable?
Any extra insight, knowledge, or previous experience would be appreciated on this subject matter. Thanks!
Genital herpes can lay dormant for years, that's true. Also, the longer you've had it, the less you shed. It is not uncommon to have a positive/negative couple that remains that way after many years together, including regular sex.
Female to male transmission is only 4% if sex during outbreaks is simply avoided. Now that you know, however, and since he's negative, you should discuss whether you should take extra precautions or continue as before.
The IgG antibody blood test is fairly accurate, but not the IgM. Having oral HSV-1 can sometimes cause a false low positive, but not usually a high one. False negatives only really occur when an infection is new and insufficient antibodies have been established. The window period for HSV IgG is 3-4 months.
A positive lesion swab is conclusive, and a DNA/PCR swab is far more accurate than a viral culture, which sometimes produces false negatives, but not false positives.
I've read a few places that "being exposed but not having it" just means that somewhere sometime they were exposed and may have the antibodies but don't have any active lesions. How true that is I don't know. It is possible too that he got a false negative. I believe it's harder to test for herpes when you're not having an outbreak. Are you in any pain from your outbreak or generally okay? And what type of HSV is it?
You either have antibodies = infected, or no antibodies = not infected. Whether the test can pick it up is another thing, but the vast majority of infected people have detectable levels after 3-4 months.
with GH, it's either you have it or don't have it. if his blood test is positive for GH antibodies, it means he has it. There is nothing like "he has been exposed". If it's type 2 it's definitely GH. Maybe he doesn't have visible outbreaks, but is actually positive.
That's what I thought. But when I looked I saw people discussing the same thing she experienced with her boyfriend. I thought it was pretty black and white.
P.S. IgG antibodies are still present when HSV is dormant.
Does anyone know to read these test results accurately? The Dr. did not explain what it meant to us very well. And other than saying "he has been exposed" she did not confirm positive or negative. The test we paid for was the HSV IgG which is suppose to be the best.
It was an HSV IgG test
for HVS 1 it said In Range: <0.90
for HVS 2 it said Out of Range: >5.00H
Value and Interpretation:
<0.90 Negative
0.90-1.10 Equilvocal
>1.10 Positive
From my understanding of this he has HSV 2.
They also used the IgM test but from what I have read it's not very reliable. The results for that test came back all negative.
Does anyone know to read these test results accurately? The Dr. did not explain what it meant to us very well. And other than saying "he has been exposed" she did not confirm positive or negative. The test we paid for was the HSV IgG which is suppose to be the best.
It was an HSV IgG test
for HVS 1 it said In Range: <0.90
for HVS 2 it said Out of Range: >5.00H
Value and Interpretation:
<0.90 Negative
0.90-1.10 Equilvocal
>1.10 Positive
From my understanding of this he has HSV 2.
They also used the IgM test but from what I have read it's not very reliable. The results for that test came back all negative.
Here are the exact test results.
Yes, this is definitely showing positive for HSV-2 (and negative for HSV-1). Over 5 is very unlikely to be a false positive, so he has it, too. Not an exposure, but an infection, though he may be asymptomatic. Think your doctor used strange terminology to indicate this!
yes you are right he is positive for hsv2 which usually affects the genitals.
Igm is an antibody produced soon after you contract the infection. I'm not sure if it's also produced during recurrent episodes. It gives false negetives if you are not having an outbreak. IGg is the reliable one.
Yes, it can be produced during recurrences as well, which is why it is useless for determining recency of infection. Also, the IgM test isn't type-specific.
They told me to same but latter I tested igG for hsv
From what my dr told me is that the test will come back negative if he hasn't had an outbreak. The only way to be positive is to have an outbreak because then you hav the antibodies in your system. My dr said that usually an outbreak happens 2-3 weeks after you are exposed to it. They could still carry the virus even if they don't show signs of it cold sores etc. so it could be dorment he just won't test positive until he has an outbreak which who knows when that will be. I have had a similar experience. I hope this helps.
Thank you to everyone this was very helpful! It still feels awful but at least I know I'm not alone.
Sorry, but that is incorrect. You can have antibodies, which means you are permanently infected and a life-long carrier, *with* or *without* symptoms or outbreaks. Once you have antibodies, that's it. You have herpes. The whole reason why antibodies exist is to fight an infection, hence that person is infected, and in the case of herpes, it's for life.
And, yes, you can most definitely test for it in the absence of symptoms using the IgG antibody test. Only a lesion swab/culture requires an active outbreak.
Hi feliscatus,
You seem really knowledgable about GH. Hope you could shed some light to me. Ive recently had symptoms like a cut (close to anus) and 3 ulcers on my genital, body felt warm and had flu for like a day. Doctor looked at it and told me that its herpes and later gave me "herpevex". Maybe because i took the medicine, my outbreak wasnt too bad. It wasnt too painful to endure (only felt the stinging pain for few minutes) and it probably took 4 days to clear since the ulcer was formed. I also took blood test which includes IGG antibody test. A week later i got my result and it says negative on both HSV1 and HSV 2. Now the problem is, i believe i got infected 10 days before i got tested. So i believe my result is just negative because im in the "window period".
Okay this might be a stupid question, but im wondering, i got myself tested when i got symptoms, would there be a higher chance of producing IGG antibody earlier (if im infected).
And if im infected, IGG antibody will definitely not be there (symptoms or not) if im only infected for a week?
Also, my partner has no symptoms. According to him, he havent had sex for 2 years. He got himself tested after i told him, but its just some standard STD test which means they didnt test IGG antibody on him. Another question is, if he has no symptoms, how likely is it for him to pass herpes to anyone? We had unprotected sex. My doctor said in the future, as long as i dont have sex during my outbreak, it'll be fine. He said it in a very chill tone but its totally different from what i read on the internet. So if my partner wasnt having an outbreak during the time we had sex, how likely am i to be infected?