accuracy of Herpes blood test at 32 days

[vfirst]

Hi, I took herpes blood test IgG at 32 days. Both HSV-1 and HSV-2 came back as "< 0.9 Negative". I took the test at quest diagnostics.

How accurate is this blood test? I read this old article http://std.about.com/od/herpes/f/herpesaccurate.htm from 2009 and it says the tests are not that accurate is this true?

Do I need to get tested again at 6 months as stated by some websites? What is the accuracy of this test repeated at 3 months?

Also, please suggest if there is a more accurate blood test for herpes.

[gracefromHHP]

you've way over tested. as I suggested earlier, be seen when you have symptoms and they can do pcr swabs to check for herpes if they suspect oral herpes as a cause.

[vfirst]

Also, how accurate are these tests at 12.2 weeks? I've read that some people have positive culture but, negative blood tests. Also read that some people never test positive for herpes via. blood tests at all. With all the above, how accurate are my blood tests? Can I still have herpes with a negative blood test what is the likely hood of this? Here is the complete list of test done so far.

32 days - HSV1&2 Antibody IgG test at quest - negative
7.4 weeks - HSV1&2 Titer test IgG at quest - negative
7.4 weeks - HSV1&2 Titer test IgM at quest - negative
10 weeks - HSV1 IgG antibody test at quest - negative
12.2 weeks - HSV1&2 antibody test at quest - negative
12.2 weeks - HSV1&2 antibody immunoblot test at labcorp - negative

Are any of these tests valid? Please help as I am totally lost.

[gracefromHHP]

abreva isn't very effective for herpes. I wouldn't bother continuing to use it. they do not sound herpes related at all. i'd stick to a good lip moisturizer.

lysine doesn't do anything for herpes either. might help some with skin conditions but not herpes.

continue to follow up regularly with your dermatologist for your symptoms.

[aro724]

i'm pretty late here but i have to completely disagree 100%.  abreva is EXTREMELY effective for HSV1.  it shortens healing time by at least 50%. for me, if i use abreva as soon as i feel a cold sore coming on, it never even develops.

[vfirst]

Hi Grace,

I got tested again at 12.2 week mark. I got two tests done
1. IgG test from Quest - negative and
2. IgG immunoblot test from labcorp - negative.

Both the tests came back negative they did not give me a number but it was < .90. However, I do see constant tiny little red bumps on my upper lip and lower lip. Also my lower lip pretty dry. These blisters do not seem to go away I've been using abreva 3-4 times a day they subside a bit but, after couple hours or the next day they flare up again/

Note none of these blisters look like the ones on the internet they are tiny bumps with redness around the area.

I've been to the dermatologist twice, been seen by two primary care physicians 4 times, both of them prescribed tetracycline and doxcyline as they suspected perioral dermatitis but, inspite of taking the entire course over 4 weeks, I still have the same recurrent redness with tiny blisters around the same area. I've been taking super lysine+ supplements thrice daily as well but no luck.

Does this sound like herpes. Please let me know.

Thanks,
VF.

[gracefromHHP]

I suggest not putting anything on these and being seen every time you have symptoms. you can also ask your dermatologist for the supplies to have at home to do home pcr swabbing when you have symptoms too.

[vfirst]

Hi Grace, The dermatologist ran another HSV1 test and the result came back negative at 10 weeks.

However, this afternoon I again got another red bump with multiple small blisters in the red area and it was burning. I applied tea tree oil and it subsided fairly quickly but there is still some amount of burning and redness at that area.

The red bump appeared within 3 hrs after I woke up, can herpes sores appear within 3 hrs?

Also, I am really really panicking are there any supplments,creams I can take to reduce the number of outbreaks. It's been 1.5 months and I've been having these bumps around my mouth on and off every week.

Would appreciate your suggestion on living with herpes? This is a very big price I paid for just 1/2 hr of sex and now I have this for life and the constant symptoms are really affecting my confidence and I seem to be losing the battle against HSV. Is there a support group for Herpes that I can join, please let me know. Best would be a consular or therapist someone to share and get motivated again that life will be normal again.

Thanks.

[Jackieoxnard21]

Please talk to me, I'm I. The same situation and am panicked.

[feelingundone]

Start a new thread. This one is old and these folks are long gone

[gracefromHHP]

most of the labs still list the immunoblot but typically it automatically is run as the captia elisa igg test.  

[vfirst]

Just found answer to my question on immunoblot vs Elisa but, this info is 3 years old. Does this still hold true?

The HerpeSelect website states that the sensitivity of the ELISA is 91% for HSV 1 and 96% for HSV 2 (in sexually active adults). So at least for HSV 2, no more than 4% of the viruses could be gG-deficient. Maybe they're lumping HSV 1 and 2 together to come up with the 5-10% figure? Perhaps the advantage of the IB test if there's concern about false negatives is that the sensitivities are supposed to be higher (99% for HSV 1 and 97% for HSV 2) and if a virus is gG-deficient, it should still have the common antigen and the IB test detects antibody to that antigen as well. It's too bad that clarifying information about these tests is not more readily available.

[vfirst]

Hi Grace,

http://requestatest.com/herpes-12-igg-immunoblot-testing
This is the immunoblot test I was referring to. All the locations for this test are labcorp locations.

Can you please let me know if immunoblot is better than Elisa?

Thanks.

[gracefromHHP]

I don't think labcorp offers an immunoblot.they use the captia igg blood test. quest offers the herpeselect both immunoblot and elisa.

[vfirst]

Hi Grace,
I had another red bump under my nose the other day and went to see a dermatologist. He's ordered another HSV1 IgG test and said two negatives will confirm I do not have HSV1. He also said that it might be hives on my lips.

1. My question is does herpes cause hives?
2. Also, do hives occur on the upper lip line border? They are red and do not look like any of the pics on net. They do itch before they come and once I itch they become red and by the next day they subside and some ooze some white liquid by some don't.
3. Also is an immunoblot test from labcorp more accurate than Elisa offered by Quest.

Please let me know.

Thanks!

[gracefromHHP]

absolutely do not start any acyclovir unless you get a positive lesion culture. you've convinced yourself you have herpes when testing, medical providers  and symptoms say differently.   herpes is not the only thing that causes genital symptoms!!!

if you need peace of mind, be seen every single time you have symptoms for lesion cultures or ask your provider for the supplies to have at home to do your own pcr swabbing of symptoms at home.

[vfirst]

Also one other thing, as soon as I see these red bumps I usually apply turmeric or neem cream and that seems to shrink these bumps and they don;t scab either.

[vfirst]

Hi Grace,

Thank you for answering my questions!! However, I still do feel that I have herpes because I did not see these blisters in my life and the tingling around my genitals never experienced that before. Although they do not look like herpes, the red lumps do appear either overnight or within couple hours especially if I sweat or if there is too much heat.

Also, I was going through other threads in this forum and some say that they never are positive via. blood test but, positive via. culture. Also, heard that herpes select misses 1 in 10.

Considering all this I am panicking a bit now because, I am sure that I have herpes symptoms but, the doc's and blood test say otherwise. Should I go ahead and request my doc. to prescribe me acyclovir as a suppressive therapy? Please let me know. Also, worried about transmitting to future partners.

Thanks again for being ever so gracious in helping others!!

VF

[gracefromHHP]

cold sores won't go away in a day like that.  you also were seen and they didn't think that your symptoms look like herpes.  I wouldn't bother repeating your herpes testing either. if you were completely negative, odds are you would've had very obvious genital symptoms if you had contracted genital herpes.

[vfirst]

Hi Grace,

I know you had asked me to wait till 12 weeks but, just had couple of question, can you please answer these.
I got my results after a test at 9 weeks post exposure and here are the results.

HSV IGG AB - Negative
HSV AB SCR IGM - Negative
HSV2 IGG AB - Negative

However, I do see blisters on my lips which are red and seem to be like a lump and they immediately subside by next day. I've had similar red lumps under my nose and they seem to subside by next day and none of them look like the pictures I see on the net. Also, none of these blisters are painful but they do itch before they form and they also burn a little bit. Couple of these blisters do seem like a cluster of pimples and they do ooze some liquid not much though.

I did get my blisters checked by two family physicians and both of them said these blisters do not seem like herpes

So, the question is what are my chances of being infected with HSV? I am going to get another test done at 12 weeks but, again can I call the 12 week test conclusive if they are negative or do I need to get another test at 16 weeks?

[gracefromHHP]

no std causes symptoms within 30 minutes of the encounter.

continue to follow up with your provider and/or a dermatologist for your symptoms.

[vfirst]

I had protected vaginal sex (no oral) and I do not know STD status of woman. I also sucked on nipples that had some pimples around them cud not tell if they are herpes or not. Immediately after the encounter after 1/2 hr, I had severe itch on my genitals. I did see one small blister around my genitals with fluid in it two days after exposure and it slowly subsided after 3-4 days.

I do see couple of blisters around my upper and lower lips that turned red but they do not have fluid filled in them. I did see one other very small blister on upper lip close to the nose that has yellow fluid in it.

Right now I have rash around my neck, upper and lower lips and also around my genitals. The skin around my lips has turned red and is flaky/dry and it itches from time to time. I've been using lip balm with lysine and that seems to help me. However, now my entire upper lip is surrounded with these tiny pearly pimples/bumps.

Is there another test I can take to confirm if I have herpes or not?
Also, is the test at 3 months conclusive or do I need to test again at 6 months?

[gracefromHHP]

blood tests are fairly accurate but they need to be taken at the proper times. testing 1 month post encounter isn't accurate testing.

we recommend testing any time after 3 months post encounter.

what was the encounter in question?

grace