[Question #4703] HPV and general questions

80 months ago

Hi I was wondering if there is a test that can detect dormant HPV. I'm trying to figure out what type I had years ago and figured since its a virus its in my body and a test may be able to detect it even if its dormant. Also, unrelated, I had a HSV 1&2 western blot 2 years ago via Terri Warren (she may need to weigh in) and I was looking through my results and wondered why there's no reference range? Is this because it confuses people? Just curious. Also, as far as HSV I know negative is negative but over a year and a half of igg testing, my type 2 was .50, .33, .36, .50 again, and i was negative by western blot so I know I am in fact negative but alot of threads i read people have much lower negative values. ie .01, .02, etc.. Is this something to do with the control sample? Is it meaningless and there's no explanation? Thank you!

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

80 months ago

Welcome back to the forum. Sorry you continue to be concerned about HPV.

The only HPV tests available detect the virus's DNA, and if positive it generally means the infection is active and not dormant. Here are no tests to detect inactive/dormant infection. Given your past cervical dysplasia, presumably you are having follow-up pap smears from time to time. If so, HPV testing almost certainly is included. If negative, it means there is no detected active infection, but it says nothing about either completely gone or still present but dormant HPV infections. But for the reasons discussed by Dr. Hook, I agree that this really shouldn't be a concern. As long as future paps (with or without HPV tests) remain negative, you really needn't worry.

The HSV Western blot is not a quantitative test, i.e there are no numerical results or reference range, just a straightforward positive or negative. (Sometimes results are equivocal, but if reported as negative, that's a reliable outcome.) As for your HSV2 IgG results, the numerical value is equally negative as long as the number is below the postive cut-off level. It's in the nature of chemistry of the test. The very same specimen tested 10 times will give 10 different numbers, which can vary randomly anywhere between say 0.1 to 0.4 to 0.8 etc. Your varied HSV2 results are exactly as expected in persons with negative tests.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

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80 months ago

Thank you. All of this was pretty much what I figured but I’d rather ask the expert than pretend to be one haha! I thought it was weird to have a .50 two times but I also had my Hsv1 result show up as the same number twice but I know there are variables. My boyfriends type 2 was .03 so I’ll let him win lol. Either way, they’re all negative. I’ll save my last post for a later date. Thanks again!

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

80 months ago

Thanks for the thanks; I'm glad to have helped. FYI, threads are closed after 4 weeks, and follow-up comments are intended for clarification of issues raised in the initial question, not for new topics.---

80 months ago

Ok I understand. I had a follow up anyway while looking through results. There are other qualitive tests like chlamydia, etc that still give a reference range of negative. I guess they use a negative control sample? Is the western blot different from this?

Also I’m assuming it’s not strange to have the same result numer twice?

Thanks! I’ll try to use your last post as a final word and tell my brain to give it a rest!

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

80 months ago

Hi there, nice to see you on this forum. I think Dr. Handsfield eloquently answered your questions about the blot and the HSV 2 IgG testing, I have nothing to add to that except to say welcome to our forum

Terri

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80 months ago

Can my last post be answered though? Thanks!

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

80 months ago

Thanks, Terri!

Chlamydia diagnosis usually is by a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), which directly detects the bacteria in swabs or urine, with results usually just given as positive/negative. Blood tests exist that give numerical results, but they are not very accurate and not recommended to diagnose current infections. Negative controls typically are done with such tests, called enzyme imminoassays (EIA), as for the HSV IgG tests, but not for NAATs or the HSV Western blot.

That concludes this thread. I hope the discussion has been helpful.

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