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Possible for a HSV 2 positive test be negative?
Ok, so I recently got tested for all STI/STD for my annual physical exam and came back positive for HSV 2 with an index value of 7.68 of which I’m completely devastated by and having an extremely hard time coping with this recent news. In 2017 I also got tested and came back positive for HSV 1 which I’m awear 90 percent of the population has, and you can even contract this as a child which most of my generation has 90’s babies but I was negative for HSV 2. In 2018 my PCP didn’t test for 1 or 2 and like I said as of recently I had another doctor which isn’t my PCP run ALL test and HSV 2 came back at a 7.68 index for H.S AB type 2 IGG antibody qualitative. I have absolutely no symptoms for either 1 or 2 and when I tried contacting my PCP she said being that I have NO symptoms DONT worry about it. And that it just means I came into contact and only until I have an outbreak that’s when o can give it to someone else. Which after compulsively researching I’m having mixed reviews about. Does this high index mean I 100 percent have this virus or could it be a false positive ? I got it ran through quest diagnostics. I also am wondering if I should get tested again and also if I have to wait a certain period of time ? Or if I should do the western blot testing and if it’s the most accurate? Also does the 7.68 reading mean I’ve had it for a while? Or does it mean resent infection/exposure. I know theses a stigma around this and it’s infact just a skin infection so to say and I know most providers as well as CDC says don’t test for it only test once you have active symptoms but now that I’ve tested postivs for it I’m just mindblow and Need to have all this information!!
COMMUNITY LEADER
I'm so sorry you're going through this with a doctor who clearly has such limited and incorrect information.
First, the chances of a 7.68 being a false positive are really very low. The CDC and most experts in the field say that anything over a 3.5 is definitely positive.
The IgG looks for antibodies. It can take up to 4 months to show positive on a test, but some do much sooner than that - the average is about 6 weeks.
Since you were tested in 2017, and were negative for hsv2 then, you can narrow your infection time to between then and now.
90% of people with hsv1 - which you can assume is oral - never get any symptoms. You're absolutely correct that a good chunk of the population has that, and many get it during childhood. Having hsv1 can make your hsv2 less noticeable. If you got hsv2 and didn't have hsv1, you'd have a primary infection (meaning you have no hsv antibodies already) and you'd have been far more likely to have the big, bad outbreaks that you often hear about with herpes.
So transmission - you can transmit it without having outbreaks. There is something called asymptomatic viral shedding, which means the virus is active on your skin without any symptoms. This happens whether or not you have outbreaks.
But don't panic. We have transmission stats for hsv2. You don't mention your sex, or the sex of your partners, so I'm going to give you both. Unfortunately, we don't have studies on same-sex couples, but I'll explain that more in a bit.
Shedding rates: (and you can find all this in the herpes handbook - https://westoverheights.com/herpes/the-updated-herpes-handbook/)
HSV 2 genital 15-30% of days evaluated
HSV 1 genital 3-5% of days evaluated
HSV 1 oral 25% of days evaluated
HSV 2 oral 1% of days evaluated
Ghsv2 transmission, female to male, over the course of a year, assuming sex 2-3 times a week:
Only avoiding sex during an outbreak - 4-5%
Adding condoms OR daily suppression - 2-3%
Adding condoms AND daily suppression - 1-2%
The transmission rates for hsv2, male to female, over the course of a year, assuming sex 2-3 times a week:
Only avoiding sex during an outbreak - 8-10%
Adding condoms OR daily suppression - 4-5%
Adding condoms AND daily suppression - 2-3%
(When I use "female" and "male", I am using them as the study that determined these rates used them. Here, "female" means someone with a vagina, and "male" means someone with a penis. This does not encompass gender identity at all.)
Generally speaking, for same sex partners, women who have sex with women have a lower risk of transmitting any STD, and men who have sex with men have a higher risk, simply because of the activity. There's no penetration involved with 2 women (again, using this as 2 people with vaginas).
So what does this mean for you practically speaking?
Medically, not much. For the vast majority of people, herpes doesn't affect your life much. Since you aren't getting outbreaks now, physically, you probably aren't affected at all. You may get outbreaks at some point, or you may not.
You can consider taking suppressive therapy, like Valtrex or acyclovir, to help reduce the chances of transmission (and getting an outbreak), if you are in a relationship with someone who doesn't have it. That's a decision you'll have to make with your partner, or for yourself, if you aren't in a relationship.
I've had herpes for over 15 years. I've dated men who don't have it, and it really isn't a thing. First though, you have to come to terms with it. If you can't accept it, you can't expect your partners to.
Let me know what questions you have that I haven't answered, and read the Herpes Handbook that I linked above. You'll get through this, I promise. It's not nearly as bad as whatever your thinking. :)
First, the chances of a 7.68 being a false positive are really very low. The CDC and most experts in the field say that anything over a 3.5 is definitely positive.
The IgG looks for antibodies. It can take up to 4 months to show positive on a test, but some do much sooner than that - the average is about 6 weeks.
Since you were tested in 2017, and were negative for hsv2 then, you can narrow your infection time to between then and now.
90% of people with hsv1 - which you can assume is oral - never get any symptoms. You're absolutely correct that a good chunk of the population has that, and many get it during childhood. Having hsv1 can make your hsv2 less noticeable. If you got hsv2 and didn't have hsv1, you'd have a primary infection (meaning you have no hsv antibodies already) and you'd have been far more likely to have the big, bad outbreaks that you often hear about with herpes.
So transmission - you can transmit it without having outbreaks. There is something called asymptomatic viral shedding, which means the virus is active on your skin without any symptoms. This happens whether or not you have outbreaks.
But don't panic. We have transmission stats for hsv2. You don't mention your sex, or the sex of your partners, so I'm going to give you both. Unfortunately, we don't have studies on same-sex couples, but I'll explain that more in a bit.
Shedding rates: (and you can find all this in the herpes handbook - https://westoverheights.com/herpes/the-updated-herpes-handbook/)
HSV 2 genital 15-30% of days evaluated
HSV 1 genital 3-5% of days evaluated
HSV 1 oral 25% of days evaluated
HSV 2 oral 1% of days evaluated
Ghsv2 transmission, female to male, over the course of a year, assuming sex 2-3 times a week:
Only avoiding sex during an outbreak - 4-5%
Adding condoms OR daily suppression - 2-3%
Adding condoms AND daily suppression - 1-2%
The transmission rates for hsv2, male to female, over the course of a year, assuming sex 2-3 times a week:
Only avoiding sex during an outbreak - 8-10%
Adding condoms OR daily suppression - 4-5%
Adding condoms AND daily suppression - 2-3%
(When I use "female" and "male", I am using them as the study that determined these rates used them. Here, "female" means someone with a vagina, and "male" means someone with a penis. This does not encompass gender identity at all.)
Generally speaking, for same sex partners, women who have sex with women have a lower risk of transmitting any STD, and men who have sex with men have a higher risk, simply because of the activity. There's no penetration involved with 2 women (again, using this as 2 people with vaginas).
So what does this mean for you practically speaking?
Medically, not much. For the vast majority of people, herpes doesn't affect your life much. Since you aren't getting outbreaks now, physically, you probably aren't affected at all. You may get outbreaks at some point, or you may not.
You can consider taking suppressive therapy, like Valtrex or acyclovir, to help reduce the chances of transmission (and getting an outbreak), if you are in a relationship with someone who doesn't have it. That's a decision you'll have to make with your partner, or for yourself, if you aren't in a relationship.
I've had herpes for over 15 years. I've dated men who don't have it, and it really isn't a thing. First though, you have to come to terms with it. If you can't accept it, you can't expect your partners to.
Let me know what questions you have that I haven't answered, and read the Herpes Handbook that I linked above. You'll get through this, I promise. It's not nearly as bad as whatever your thinking. :)
3 Comments
Ugh you’ve definitely put my mind at ease then I was thinking possibly I won’t consider next level testing, my friend came back positive as well and her index was 33.7 so I was thinking maybe since mine was lower I’d need additional testing!! I don’t have a boyfriend at the moment and the last person I had sex with protection can I still have gotten it even if protection was used. I’m pretty sure of the person who gave it to me was my ex boyfriend as I noticed some cuts during oral sex and asked him about it but it was back in 2017 and I had gotten tested and it was negative and I didn’t think anything of it. Stupidly I didn’t get tested last year yet he and I were and still dealing with one another. Now fast forward we’re still dealing with one another and he doesn’t like to use condoms nor talk about std etc. soooooo I think I messed up on my part. I know in the microbiology field theyre making strive to find a vaccine for ppl who are infected already so I’m holding out for that. Would I be a bad person if I didn’t want to disclose this with anyone
He had cuts on his genitals? Paper cut-like sores can indeed be herpes.
When you tested, you may not have been infected yet, or it was too soon to test.
Your friend getting a high score like that really depends on the lab. It doesn't mean much about your infection. Some labs will stop running the test after they get a true positive, which yours is.
The other thing is that you could test today with a 7.68, tomorrow with an 11.23, and the following day with a 9.35. It doesn't mean that one day you have "less herpes" than the other day, or worse one day than the next. Your result doesn't mean that you won't ever have outbreaks and your friend will have a ton - the numbers can't predict that.
I don't think you should look at it is a "bad person" vs "good person" when thinking of telling people.
First, you do need to look up the laws where you live. In some areas, it's a crime to not tell a partner that you have an STD before sex - each area (and each state, if you're in the US) has different laws, so look yours up.
Legal stuff aside, I try to think about what I'd want to know before having sex with someone, and consider what my intentions are with that partner.
You already feel betrayed by your ex, and resent him for being so careless with his genital health, and you're upset with yourself, too. Would you want someone to feel that way about you?
Also, if you meet someone that you like, telling them that you have herpes goes a long way to building trust. If you start a relationship, and 6 months in, or a year, or 5, he finds out that you have herpes, that's going to go a long way in destroying the trust.
Some say that if you have one night stands, you have to go into it expecting and prepared for your partner to have anything and everything, and that they'll disclose nothing. There's some truth to that. If you're having casual sex, you can't rely on another person to be honest. You really have no idea if they're trustworthy or not. (And I hope I don't sound judgy about one-night stands or casual sex - I'm not trying to be.)
So though it's cliche, I go back to the "do unto others" standard, and I'm not at all religious.
So it's up to you what you do - I'm just giving you the information. It's up to you what you do with it.
I wouldn't hold out for a vaccine anytime soon, unfortunately. There's been some research, but none of them have even come close to human trials yet, and the process for just that takes years. :(
When you tested, you may not have been infected yet, or it was too soon to test.
Your friend getting a high score like that really depends on the lab. It doesn't mean much about your infection. Some labs will stop running the test after they get a true positive, which yours is.
The other thing is that you could test today with a 7.68, tomorrow with an 11.23, and the following day with a 9.35. It doesn't mean that one day you have "less herpes" than the other day, or worse one day than the next. Your result doesn't mean that you won't ever have outbreaks and your friend will have a ton - the numbers can't predict that.
I don't think you should look at it is a "bad person" vs "good person" when thinking of telling people.
First, you do need to look up the laws where you live. In some areas, it's a crime to not tell a partner that you have an STD before sex - each area (and each state, if you're in the US) has different laws, so look yours up.
Legal stuff aside, I try to think about what I'd want to know before having sex with someone, and consider what my intentions are with that partner.
You already feel betrayed by your ex, and resent him for being so careless with his genital health, and you're upset with yourself, too. Would you want someone to feel that way about you?
Also, if you meet someone that you like, telling them that you have herpes goes a long way to building trust. If you start a relationship, and 6 months in, or a year, or 5, he finds out that you have herpes, that's going to go a long way in destroying the trust.
Some say that if you have one night stands, you have to go into it expecting and prepared for your partner to have anything and everything, and that they'll disclose nothing. There's some truth to that. If you're having casual sex, you can't rely on another person to be honest. You really have no idea if they're trustworthy or not. (And I hope I don't sound judgy about one-night stands or casual sex - I'm not trying to be.)
So though it's cliche, I go back to the "do unto others" standard, and I'm not at all religious.
So it's up to you what you do - I'm just giving you the information. It's up to you what you do with it.
I wouldn't hold out for a vaccine anytime soon, unfortunately. There's been some research, but none of them have even come close to human trials yet, and the process for just that takes years. :(
Thank you so much definitely reading through everyone’s stories and your answers have given me full insight and yes you’re correct my ex doing this to me shows the lack of consideration that he had for me AT ALL and shows that I trusted the wrong person. I wouldn’t want that to happen to someone else. It just sucks that this is all the case for so many people. And of course the stigma behind it being that it’s just a “skin infection” in reality. I’m hoping a cure will fast forward or at the most a vaccine for those who don’t have it. I will be speaking to my PCP about the therapy suppression. I’ll definitely be back with more questions I’m just trying to cope with this the best I can.
Thank you so much for your understanding and relation.
Thank you so much for your understanding and relation.
Thank you so much definitely reading through everyone’s stories and your answers have given me full insight and yes you’re correct my ex doing this to me shows the lack of consideration that he had for me AT ALL and shows that I trusted the wrong person. I wouldn’t want that to happen to someone else. It just sucks that this is all the case for so many people. And of course the stigma behind it being that it’s just a “skin infection” in reality. I’m hoping a cure will fast forward or at the most a vaccine for those who don’t have it. I will be speaking to my PCP about the therapy suppression. I’ll definitely be back with more questions I’m just trying to cope with this the best I can.
Thank you so much for your understanding and relation.
Thank you so much for your understanding and relation.
1 Comments
Read the Herpes Handbook - it's free and written by one of the world's best experts on herpes - and take your time digesting it. It's a lot to take in all at once.
There is a stigma, but it's gotten better somewhat over the years, so try not to buy into that too much, or worry about what people will do before it even happens.
We're here whenever you have questions. It's a lot now, but I've had it for over 15 years, and it's just a blip in my life now. You'll get there, too. :)
There is a stigma, but it's gotten better somewhat over the years, so try not to buy into that too much, or worry about what people will do before it even happens.
We're here whenever you have questions. It's a lot now, but I've had it for over 15 years, and it's just a blip in my life now. You'll get there, too. :)
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You are reading content posted in the Herpes Community
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.
