Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

Do I or don’t I? CONFUSED

Nov 2016 first outbreak (horrible) w/ lesions and severe flu-like symptoms, culture from lesion came back positive for HSV2.
I have taken acyclovir twice per day every day since and have not had another breakout.
My new doctor recently performed an igG blood-test to double check and type the HSV (different doctor than the first time around). Today the igG test came back negative for both HSV1 & HSV2!? They are saying that if I had it there would be antibodies by now (2.5 yrs later)? They’re saying that acyclovir won’t eliminate the antibodies- my antibodies might be lower, but not negative.
Insurance is reluctant to test me again.
I don’t know what to think?
If that wasn’t a herpes outbreak in 2016, what was it? It was horrible.
1 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
207091 tn?1337709493
COMMUNITY LEADER
I would go with the culture result, as those are more accurate than the blood tests, though if you are wanting confirmation, you can take a western blot test.

Did the culture actually say hsv2, or did they just say hsv2 because it's genital? If it is type 1 genitally, it's not uncommon to not get another outbreak after the initial one, and the IgG misses about 30% of hsv1 infections.

Can you get the results of the culture and make sure it was typed?

You can read more about getting a Western Blot here - https://westoverheights.com/herpes/getting-a-western-blot/ or here - http://depts.washington.edu/herpes/pages/frequently_asked_questions#faqCat-4

Helpful - 0
3 Comments
They are saying that the culture was typed and came back HSV2. There is a possibility of a false negative culture, but it's slim. I have now had 2 igG blood tests come back negative for both HSV1 and HSV2, though Planned Parenthood considers me positive, my primary care doctor does not. It's all very confusing... my primary care doctor says that I could have had something called "Chancroid" rather than an HSV2 outbreak, but my partner at the time had a blood test after I got sick, and he was told that he was positive for HSV2 dur to antibodies in his blood (meaning he'd had it for awhile but didn't know it).
That is, there is a slim possibility of a false POSITIVE culture (typo)
You could have had a chancroid, but that's pretty rare, except in some regions of Africa and the Caribbean. (https://www.cdc.gov/std/tg2015/chancroid.htm)

If chancroids aren't treated with antibiotics, they'd persist, and you'd likely get more of them. That doesn't sound like what happened to you.

I'm sorry this is so confusing. :(

What were the specific results of your partner's test? He should have a numeric result for his type 2 test.
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Herpes Community

Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.