Is it possible to have GHSV1 and GHSV2

[difficultroadahead]

Hi All was just wondering if the above is possible??.

My story...

2016 I noticed 2 blisters on shaft of my penis.I did not have any other symptoms of herpes. I popped them and went to a dermatoligist asking if it was herpes,he said no looked like some sort of bacterial skin infection gave me some creams and antibiotics and sent me on my way.

Anyway fastforward to June this year ,all of a sudden I had a prodrome of tingling on my skin like something was crawling. 4hrs later 2 blisters appeared again on the shaft of my penis.I really got concerned as I had had protecected sex with a new partner a week prior.

So i went to 3 gps and 1 proffessor of Derm who all said it was not herpes,I was still unsure and went to A 4th GP who said this looked like clinical herpes.Sent me for bloods and put me on 5days Valtrex.

So bloods results came back as follows HSV-1 IGG positive ,HSV-2 IGG Negitive and IGM HSv 1 and 2 Positve. so was not sure if this was Ghsv1. doc said that our tests here in South Africa Cannot distinguish between HSV1 And 2

Anyway 6weeks later went for another blood test and this time all came back positive.

What are you guys thoughts on this?

Could it be just GHSV 1 from a few years ago or Ghsv2 from new infection?

Thanks for a wonderful forum

[WilsoInAus]

Hey @difficultroadahead and welcome to the website.

Let’s go with the simplest explanation here. Note that there is other possibilities included underneath.

First you disregard the IgM test, not useful especially if you carry one type already.

Your IgG tests are type specific by the look of them. I understand you had HSV-1 positive and HSV-2 negative within a couple of weeks after the sores appeared. Now 6 weeks later IgG HSV-2 is also now positive - correct.

This suggests you have had an oral HSV-1 infection since childhood. It also suggests you were infected during the incidence you describe in June a week before sores. That’s a fit to the facts and a pretty decent fit.

Other possibilities include that you have experienced a false positive for HSV-2. If this were true, you probably wouldn’t have genital herpes at all. You have enough data here to be able to ask this partner to test (please) to assist in understanding if you do have HSV-2 and whether you are concordant with them or need further testing.

[difficultroadahead]

Hi Wilsoln

Thanks for your reply.

Tell me is it possible to have GHSV 1 and 2

[WilsoInAus]

22 minutes ago, difficultroadahead said:

Hi Wilsoln

Thanks for your reply.

Tell me is it possible to have GHSV 1 and 2

It is feasible, but theoretical, extremely low chances. 

It is way less likely than a false positive on your HSV-2 for example.

[difficultroadahead]

hi

so its possible that this was a reoccurent outbreak from the initial 2016

best bet would be to wait another 4 weeks and go for another blood test

 

[WilsoInAus]

Yes it is a possible recurrent, but that wouldn’t explain the now positive HSV-2 outcome which you need to prove was a false positive.

Could you ask the partner in June to test as well?

[TCBH]

From the American Sexual Health Association:  The accurate herpes blood tests detect IgG antibodies. Unlike IgM, IgG antibodies can be accurately broken down to either HSV-1 or HSV-2. ... However, since most cases of genital herpes are caused by HSV-2, a positive result for type-2 antibodies most likely indicates genital herpes.

[difficultroadahead]

On 8/6/2019 at 9:52 PM, WilsoInAus said:

Yes it is a possible recurrent, but that wouldn’t explain the now positive HSV-2 outcome which you need to prove was a false positive.

Could you ask the partner in June to test as well?

Hi Wilsoln

Mange to get my results from the lab

igm is 0.9 negative

igg for hsv 2 is 2.1 which says positive

it was elisa test what would you make of these index values

thanks

 

[difficultroadahead]

Hi Wilsoln

Please help with above

Thanks

[WilsoInAus]

2 hours ago, difficultroadahead said:

Hi Wilsoln

Please help with above

Thanks

Hey mate, sorry I missed your previous post.

Upon a reread and a think, what I said initially is pretty much spot on.

At this stage you can not distinguish between:

- a recent infection of HSV-2; and

- a false positive for HSV-2.

The result at 2.1 is poised to support both these possibilities.

As the Westernblot is probably not available as a tye breaker for you, the following should sort it out:

- a test by the partner to see if HSV-2 was even a risk would be incredibly useful, if they have it then a further positive test particular with a higher number would push the situation close to beyond reasonable doubt.

- a further blood test for you regardless is needed to compare, it may be negative or firmly positive (above 3.5) to leave little doubt. If it comes back low positive (1.1 to 3.5) then a reasonable doubt would still exist in the absence of knowing the partner’s status.

[difficultroadahead]

Hi Wilsoln

Thank you so much for your feedback.

Just passed the 12 weeks ,maybe the anitbodies were still building up thats why it was a low positive of 2.1

On another note do you think a burning sensation on the palm of the hand is in anyway linked to Herpes as lots of people say it can affect the nerves

Been getting this sensation almost every other day now

Thanks

 

[WilsoInAus]

Hey @difficultroadahead there are a few possibilities that you need to get to the bottom of. When are you testing next? Can you ask your partner to test?

Herpes infects the sensory nerves of the sacral ganglion. The virus will generally not travel the body to other ganglions. Hence your palm is an unrelated issue.

[difficultroadahead]

37 minutes ago, WilsoInAus said:

Hey @difficultroadahead there are a few possibilities that you need to get to the bottom of. When are you testing next? Can you ask your partner to test?

Herpes infects the sensory nerves of the sacral ganglion. The virus will generally not travel the body to other ganglions. Hence your palm is an unrelated issue.

Hi This is a new test done at 11 weeks since june.

Partner has refused to test saying nothing wrong with her unfortunetaly for me.

Does the antibodies index level increase over time as more antibodies are built up?