Back in May I was going to become sexually involved with someone who wanted to make sure I had no STDs. I'm a 56 year old bi male who has had maybe 10 different sexual  partners in my life, both male and female. I've never had any symptoms of any kind so I was sure I'd be negative on the 10 test panel that was used. So I was very surprised when it came back as positive for HSV1 IGG Type Specific with a 3.32H, whatever that means. I waited until September and tested again thinking it was wrong. It still came back positive for HSV1, this time with a 4.16 H.

Because it was HSV1 I couldn't get a consultation from the lab. They only do that for HSV2. I actually have a few questions related to this.

1. Why the variance in ranges, from 3.32 to 4.16 and what does that mean?

2. The person I was to become sexually involved with is obviously worried. Can they become infected if they perform oral sex on me? I've read they could become infected if I did the same, even if he wore a condom.

As I've stated, I've never recently had any cold sores or open sores around my mouth at any time. However I do remember as a kid I used to get cold sores quite frequently. Is it possible I became infected then?

Thank you Terri. And I appreciate the quick response.

From the research I read online, I came numerous mentions of contacting HSV1 as a child, from just having contact with adults who have it, and not by anything sexual. I also wasn't sure about the results I got back, the 3.32 and then that changing to a 4.16. In between the two tests I had no sexual activity with anyone so I'm wondering why it went up. Is there a 'low' risk versus a 'high' risk based on these results? For instance if my results were 20.5 or something, would that mean I'm at a higher risk of infecting someone else?