Hsv 2 positive?

[upset12367]

So I recently got one bump on labia majora - it was a very large bump and puss filled. Almost like a pimple or a boil, could feel it under the skin like a cyst, prior to it coming to a head. I was already going to my gyno a few days later so I thought I would have her look at it when I went in. It was almost healed by that time so she had to scrape it to get anything out of it. Swab came back positive for hsv 2. I was very confused as it never looked like a cluster of blisters like what herpes looks like, while I understand everyone is different it just doesn’t seem right. Anyways I went to do an IgG after finding that out and my results still came back positive 2.49. I am devastated and very confused on how this could occur.
Five months ago I took part in sexual activities with two other people and myself (me, a male, and a female). We never had intercourse with each other. I never even touched the female. The male just touched us along with giving us oral. The female after the encounter told us she was hsv 2 positive. Was it possible for me to get HSV 2 from this? Why did I just now receive one bump 5 months later? I should point out that I also have only had 2 sexual partners in my life and haven’t had sex in over two years.

I know my igG could be a false positive but i’m concerned about that swab coming back positive. I have not been taking any medicine or anything for this, as I refuse to believe this is what it is. Please help me, I am a mess. I don’t know if I should do the western blot, as i’m unsure if this would be worth my time or money given that my swab somehow came back positive.

[auntiejessi]

So do you know if your doctor did a regular culture or a PCR swab? I ask because the PCR swab is more sensitive and can pick up the herpes virus more easily than a regular culture. A false positive for either is far less likely than a false negative, but I've seen it happen on both.

However, you have a (technically) positive IgG test, though it's low.

I wonder if you had a pimple or infected hair follicle or what have you that triggered viral shedding, and that's what the swab picked up on.

If you want to get a Western Blot, then do that. If you need to do that to accept it or disprove it, that's okay. There's no right or wrong answer here. If your IgG was much higher, I'd tell you it's a waste of time.

I don't want to give you false hope - it's more likely than not that you have it, but you need to do what you need to do. If you have it, you could have had it for years, and just not known it. Do you also have hsv1? That is known to help keep hsv2 milder.

If you do have it, unless you have all of your former partners tested, you may not ever know. It doesn't sound like you could have gotten it from the threesome. I'm assuming she didn't have an outbreak at the time, and even if he did oral on her and then went right to you and gave you oral, without an outbreak, it's not a likely effective mode of transmission. Hands and mutual masturbation don't transmit STDs.

I'm sorry you're going through this. Let me know what you decide to do.

[upset12367]

Thank you so much for your quick response! The doctor did a culture test on it. Is the culture test a bit more likely to give a false positive?  Should I look into doing a PCR swab? Would I have to have an active sore in order to do the PCR?
I did not test for HSV 1 as I wasn’t as concerned with what the results would be for that.  I guess at this time doing a Western Blot would probably hurt me more than being left unsure, so I think I’ll wait on that. Again, thank you for your response it really means so much!

[auntiejessi]

No, a culture would be more likely to give a false negative, but if it was a PCR swab, it would be more likely to pick up viral shedding if it was a sore caused by something else that triggered shedding.

A PCR swab is far more reliable if you have symptoms. It can pick up viral shedding, but if you have herpes, you don't shed every day, so if you are negative, it would just leave you with the "what if" questions you have now.

The only thing I would caution you about is that if you do have it, you can transmit it without symptoms. I know it feels awful now thinking you may have it, but it would feel much worse if you transmitted it, or didn't tell a potential relationship only to find out later, right? I'm not preaching or judging - just giving you things to think about. You have to do what's right for you. :)