Asymptomatic and low positive HSV2

[lilyf26]

Hi there, 

I’m a 20 year old female who was diagnosed in December 2020. I went in for BV (which I’ve had before so it was mainly to get confirmation and antibiotics) and got routine STD screening. I had multiple partners in the few months prior, which prompted testing. Everything came back normal, and I was feeling pretty good, until my HSV2 result. The nurse basically just told me that I was positive and that I needed to contact my past sexual partners (which was scary, but of course I promptly did to relieve anxiety) No other information given, and I’ve never had any symptoms. So of course, I started my research. Basically any article out there about HSV2-I’ve browsed. I basically had to beg my doctor for my igG test number- 1.12 which made me even MORE upset because from reading, I recognize this is a low positive. Has anyone gotten another blood test a few months later to find out it WAS a false positive? I know about the Western Blot test, but unfortunately, me being a poor college student, I am unable to afford it right now. Looking for guidance here! 

[My thoughts]

Yes. You should get tested again. Scores between 1.1 and 3.5 have around 50% chance of being wrong in a herpesselect test.

Make sure you get tested three months after the last exposure to make sure you give time to your body to build antibodies and shoe up in the test.
Another option is to take the western blot test offered by the University of Washington. This test is the standard gold test and people with those values you got often take this test to make sure they have the virus or not.