Good morning Terri. I understand index values don't mean much except a high number would suggest a "longer standing infection" -does this mean someone has had it for a long time (for years vs months) and that it is not a new recent infection as in days or weeks? As to high index values for HSV1 you mentioned it also means a person has built a terrific immune response to it. Does the immune response mean you're less likely to have symptoms or breakout (if you're asymptomatic)? Can one have a terrific immune response for genital herpes, how does that work and what index value would indicate that? 

If a much lower value, such as 1.12 for HSV2 is either a false positive or a new infection, what does a "new infection" mean? In other words, how new is new- days, weeks, months? And how long is long? If someone keeps testing a few months at a time and still has that same low number (but still has visible outbreaks ) does that test result indicate the current outbreak is a "new infection" each time? Also if a man keeps getting outbreaks say every 2-3 months, why does that occur so frequently? 

Finally if you have seen false positives for HSV 2 as high as 17 would you recommend the western blot test if say someone has an index value less than 17 but still considered high say a 12? What would be the reason for such a high value to be a false positive? (Not doubting, just hopeful and curious). Thank you.