Timing for Herpes Testing

[Chibw]

I am a male in a long-term heterosexual relationship and have had no sexual partners for many years.  I had a sexual encounter with a stranger on 9/26  that  involved getting naked, massaging, showering and masturbating with another man.  There was no oral or anal sex, not did I touch any ejaculate with any part of my body.

I now have several symptoms of herpes after this encounter and am concerned that I could have genital Herpes.  I waited until 13 1/2 weeks after the encounter to get tested (Herpes Select ELISA) and my test results came back negative (for HSV1/2 and everything else).  I still have symptoms such as muscle numbness in my left thigh, herpes-like blisters on my buttocks and marks on my penis that might be lesions (not bleeding or weeping, but not "perfect" skin either).  I have abstained from sex while I'm in limbo and plan to go to a doctor once I'm convinced that I'm either negative or positive for HSV 1/2.  

I've now read that testing at 13 1/2 weeks is not conclusive, as there is a possibility of a false negative (I realize there is always a possibility of a false negative, but I'm trying to say that it's expected that a decent % of those tested at 13  1/2 weeks will be positive but test negative).  My questions are:

1.  What is the probability of a false negative result at 13 1/2 weeks with Herpes Select ELISA tests?

2.  How long should I wait before getting tested again (with Herpes Select ELISA) to be virtually certain that the test results are accurate?  

3.  Having tested negative at 13 1/2 weeks when can I retest and have a 99% or more chance that my next results will be accurate (and hopefully another negative result)?  I'd like to know my status before going to the doctor.

4. If I don't have HSV2, what could I have?

Thanks for your help.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Hand to genital with intact hand skin presents no risk for transmission of an STD due to the thickness of hand skin.  If you had actual genital to genital rubbing, that's a different story than the one you explained earlier.  There is some risk in genital to genital rubbing risk, though it is low.  If you have blisters on the buttocks, you should have swab testing done from those blisters to look for herpes if your provider thinks they look herpetic.

Terri

[Chibw]

Thanks for responding so quickly.  I am a little confused, though, because I thought any skin-to-skin contact could put me at risk for Herpes?  I touched his skin with my hand in several places and there was body rubbing with skin-to-skin contact as well (maybe I wasn't clear about that before).  

Wouldn't this put me at risk for getting Herpes?

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Your sexual encounter in September does not pose a risk for a sexually transmitted infection.  Period.  The symptoms that you are experiencing could be many things or nothing, but there is no reason to worry that you have newly acquired herpes infection.  

A test done at 16 weeks will give you as much certainty as you probably need, given that you experience didn't put you at any risk.  In fact, if you were my patient, I would say that you don't need any further testing at all!  

Most people have bumps on their bottom from time to time, and the numbness in your thigh could be simply normal for you but noticed now because your are worried about your contact. Nothing you described sounds typically herpetic to me, but if you are actually having blisters on the buttocks, you might want to have a clinician check that out.  

Again, this experience did NOT put you at risk for herpes or any other STD.

Terri

[Chibw]

Clarification of above -- what I meant in the 1st line is that I have had no sex outside of my heterosexual relationship for years and years, not that that relationship has been a non-sexual one.  I have had an ongoing sexual relationship with my partner and have had only the one encounter described in my note with anybody else.  So, I know with confidence the exact date when I was potentially exposed to HSV2 (and I'm highly confident that my partner didn't get HSV2 elsewhere--she his very unlikely to have cheated, like I did).