I recently received a positive HSV Type 1 iGG result of .94 and a negative QL Real Time PCR result for both types. This is 7 months after receiving a positive iGM result of 1.3 and positive iGG Type 1 result of 1.2. My partner tested negative. I also had a positive result of 1.62 iGM result last summer, but my prior iGG tests, (six in the past 5 years), have been negative. I re-took the iGM test with my recent iGG test and it was negative. The only time that I could have been exposed was when a friend dipped his utensil into my food as I was eating. Literally, that was the only exposure I had to someone else. Is it possible to transfer the virus that way? I was thinking of doing the Western Blot, since my iGG percentage is now equivocal, but I’m unsure if it makes sense to do so since I’ve had two positive iGG tests. Also, I recently drank out of a friend’s cup, (she poured her drink out for me to use her cup), so I’m wondering if I need to wait 6 months to do the Western Blot just in case I could have been exposed again. 

Just trying to wrap my head around this since I haven’t had exposure to anyone besides my friends and the thought that I could have gotten the virus through a spoon in my food or using an empty cup is a little mind-blowing. 

Thanks so much for any insight. 

So I wonder if the PCR was from a lesion or from blood.  Herpes is not in the blood.  whoever ordered a PCR of the blood made a very expensive mistake, if it was from blood.  The IgM test has also been soundly discouraged by the CDC due to many false positives. 

this is all from HSV 1?  About half the population has HSV 1 so a true positive would be not a surprise, but if you are worried, you could do the western blot.

this is not transmitted via sharing drinks.

Terri

Thanks so much for your response!

The PCR was done with a blood draw. I guess I can go ahead and do the Western Blot now instead of waiting a few months since you mentioned HSV can’t be transmitted in drinks. I think I’m still hung up on how I could’ve gotten it. Like I mentioned,  my partner is negative. I’ve been getting blood tests yearly for the past ten years and have been negative until last year. If my partner was positive, it would’ve made more sense to me. 

The positive tests I mentioned were HSV 1. My HSV 2 results (iGM, iGG, and PCR), were negative.  I’ve yet to have an outbreak, so if I had never gotten tested, I never would’ve known any of this.

I don’t think my partner and I will make it because he thinks I cheated on him, so I’ll probably be dating again sometime in the future. If my Western Blot results are negative, would I still have to disclose that I’m positive due to the iGG? Is there some type of way to determine why the iGG is positive, like if there is something else going on? I had chickenpox as a kid, so don’t know if that would affect it. Just thinking of how this would affect future relationships. I know people get in trouble for not disclosing.

Wait.  You could have been infected as a child by an adult kissing you with a cold sore.  And your HSV 1 result is so low there is an excellent chance it is going to be negative on the western blot. Your partner is way off base in their thinking.  In addition, the IgG test misses 30% of HSV 1 infections, compared to the gold standard western blot so he could also be infected (a 1 in 3 chance) and the test is missing it.  If this is enough to have him leave you, with all of the above information, I'm not sure how great a partner he really is.  If the western blot is negative, you should never need to say one word about the IgG test as it is a seriously flawed test. 

Let's get the blot going for you - either me or your own provider - and find out for sure what is going on here.  It is only done at the University of Washington in the USA so don't accept something else instead like the immunoblot.  Far inferior test but sometimes clinicians get mixed up and say they are the same.  They are NOT the same.

Terri

Thank you so much for your insight! This has been a great help. 

The test detects antibody, at a far more complicated and thorough level than the IgG test.  It is not a mechanized test, it is hand read by 3 virologists, each time.  It is recommended by the CDC in it's STD treatment guidelines, and we use it for each research study enrolling subjects in a herpes medication or vaccine trial - simply the best

Terri