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HerpeSelect ELISA and CAPTIA ELISA testing

Hi,  I'm a 50 yr old single male.  In 2009, I did a full panel of STD tests in May 2009 ( blood and urine )... with the same result.  Positive for HSV-2, negative for others ( HIV, HSV1, Hepatitis, Syphilis, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea ).  The herpes test kit used was HerpeSelect ELISA for HSV-1 and HSV-2.   Specifically, the HerpeSelect 1 ELISA result was 0.35 and the HerpeSelect 2 ELISA result was 8.79

I repeated the tests in September 2009.  A different provider who also used HerpeSelect ELISA.  Same results as the testing in May - postive for HSV-2, negative for all others.

I have never had an outbreak or symptom and was told that many people like me have the virus but are asympomatic.  I was also told that the higher number of 8.79 from the blood test showed a higher level of antobodies/proteins/enzymes  .  I have done a lot of reading and understand how the blood tests work and the explanations made sense.

I met a woman recently and told her I had tested positive for HSV2 in the past.  She was recently tested ( all tests negative for her ).   I said I would gladly test again to show current results. So I tested again in January 2012.

I went to a different provider than I did in 2009 mainly because they mentioned that they use the CAPTIA ELISA.  
They told me I tested negative for both HSV1 and HSV2.  My HSV-1 CAPTIA ELISA result was  0.461.   My HSV-2 CAPTIA ELISA result was 0.735


Obviously I was surprised at this last test.   My understanding is that both HerpeSelect and CAPTIA are reliable IgG test kits specifically for herpes 1 and herpes 2.   I was expecting to see the same results, but there is quite a difference.

I would greatly appreciate any comments or help on why I have such a different result between the two kits.  Thank you

Robert
















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Avatar universal
Thanks for your help grace, I do know about the Western Blot ... the first doctor started with the HerpeSelect as it is a good initial test.  I will try the Western Blot next.  

One final question - Based on your response regarding the sensitivity of HerpeSelect and HSV2 versus CAPTIA, is it possible the CAPTIA was a  false negative with respect to HSV2 ?  

When I mentioned my positive HerpeSelect to the doctor who used the CAPTIA kit, he said that there is more liklihood of a false positive than a false negative with respect to all ELISA IgG blood tests.    






Helpful - 0
101028 tn?1419603004
at this point the best you can do is to get a herpes WB to confirm your hsv2 status.  The herpeselect is more sensitive at detecting hsv2 than the captia test is but since you've had such differing results, a good idea to get the WB to be sure.

grace
Helpful - 0
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