Results of a blood test are confusing.

[lastbaron]

Hello, I hope I could word this as clearly as possible.

So my ex Girlfriend told me she was diagnosed with genital herpes after our relationship ended. She claims this was caused by oral sex from a past boyfriend with hsv1, so this would give her hsv-1 genital correct? Well I had an outbreak scare a while back while she was still claiming she didnt have it and all tests came back negative. Now after learning she had it I went back and got retested and came out negative for hsv2 and a 2.3 blood test rating for hsv1 which they told me was labeled positive.

My question is, if she has genital hsv1 would it be transmitted through genital contact and show up as hsv1 on my test, or would it show up as hsv2?

[whoopywoo]

It would show as HSV1 hun. HTH.

[Tiny]

Herpes can't change from ghsv1 to hsv 2...so if she has hsv 1 that is all you would be risking contracting being involved with her.

It is quite rare (but not impossible) for HSV 1 to pass genital to genital. I have been seeing an STD specialist who has been practising for 20 years and he said he has yet to see it...but warned me it is theoretically possible. On the whole herpes is a lot less likely to transmits when it is outside its preferred location eg hsv1 on the genitals rather than on the lips.

Remember 80% of people carry antibodies for hsv 1 many of whom contracted it as children and who never get outbreaks. Testing positive for hsv 1 if not really "surprising"--most people have it. If you don't get outbreaks it is hard to know where it may be...the reality is though that if you have ever kissed anybody in the past who gets cold sores your risk would have been higher getting it on the lips from them than getting it from your ex-g on your genitals.

Good luck...I hope you stay outbreak free.

[viceroy]

I went through the sane thing man. Over the summer I had oral and unprotected sex with my ex and 1 week later she told me she had an ulcer in her vagina and after a culture swab and blood test she came back positive for HSV-1.

I've never had a single cold sore or genital outbreak but I got a blood test done and I came back positive 2.11 for HSV-1 negative HSV-2.

have you ever had an outbreak of anykind before? As far as your question goes, through all my research over the past 3 months and what I am still struggling with is knowing whether I have it orally or genitally. The blood yes will only tell you what strain you have not the location. The only way to find out where you have it...is to have an actual outbreak .... without one being found then clutured your pretty much SOL.

[lastbaron]

I've had one thing that resembled an outbreak but got tests done after it and they showed negative. Now on the retest it showed positive hv1 but I've never had another outbreak since then on either my mouth or genitals. Could the low number warrant a retest?

[viceroy]

I've had one thing that resembled an outbreak but got tests done after it and they showed negative. Now on the retest it showed positive hv1 but I've never had another outbreak since then on either my mouth or genitals. Could the low number warrant a retest?

Dude be descriptive ... no need to be shy. What was this thing that resembled an outbreak? Was it oral genital...lesion..bump..sore? Your information helps us too.

The "low" number is under the 3.5 mark that the university of Washingtonhas claimed to be false positives ....so if you plan on being detested you def can to be double sure. But make sure you get a western blot done...that's the most accuraate test out.

[lastbaron]

The lesions were on the genitals and eventually Scabbed. But after the negative results the doctor explained it as a different type of infection and put me on antibiotics that seemed to help clear it up. I don't know if that was coincidence or not. After that I have never had any other outbreak but seem to show up positive on the retest which is confusing.

[lastbaron]

Thank you for all your responses they help a lot.

So what you're saying viceroy is there is a chance for a false positive? It also wasn't my doctor who related the results to me it was a person taking calls. I've heard that some people may misread results but idk how common that is. I plan on doing a consult Monday in person but till then any additional information would be appreciated

[gotitsowhat]

It is not surprising if you do have hsv1 since about 80% of the north American population has it after age 12. Most people would test positive for it. If you do not have an outbreak, I would not worry about it. If you do have one, get it swabbed so you can know for sure if you do have genital herpes type 1 or just the usual oral type 1 that most people already have.

[lastbaron]

Well this brings up another question. Obviously I should always practice safe sex. But if I were to have any contact with a girl from here on out should I treat it like I have the infection or not. The confusion as to whether I actually have it or not is throwing me off. I know if I have it I would abstain from a lot of things but I dont know what to do in my current state of confusion.