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Blood test show both partners negative but positive culture test


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Hello everyone. I recently was diagnosed with HSV2 genitally, and have found this forum to be of great support, but I am confused!! I am a 25 year old female.

 

I recently started seeing a new partner and prior to having any sexual activity with him I decided to get tested for STDs, including herpes. I got the IgG test and was negative for both HSV1 and HSV2. The guy I started seeing was tested back in February (along with his ex girlfriend) and both of them were also negative for everything, including herpes.

 

Since he and his last sexual partner had both been tested during their relationship and he said (and I do trust) he had not had any sexual partners since I felt safe enough to have to have sex without a condom as I am on hormonal birth control. We had sex on Wednesday and Friday of last week. Saturday I felt a bit sore, and Sunday I felt what seemed to be the beginning stages of a yeast infection (though more tingly.). Monday morning I woke up in agony and made a doctor's appointment for Tuesday.... but I felt I already knew what it was as a self exam showed open sores on my vaginal lips.

 

My doctor took a peak Tuesday and said it definitely looked like herpes, and sent in a culture. The culture came back positive for HSV2 (as expected). My doctor said that the timeline lined up pretty well for an initial exposure to herpes on Weds or Fri, and that this was definitely an initial outbreak due to the severity of symptoms.

 

I have been open and honest with my new partner about this and he has been very supportive. He even went and got re-tested and we both thought maybe he or his last partner had been exposed just before testing and they didn't have it long enough to see a positive result on the test.... but his new herpes test is still negative! And my blood test I got at the beginning of the month was also negative. My last new sexual partner was back on May, and he and his ex broke up somewhere around July.

 

Is it possible for him to have been the one to expose me to herpes but still be testing negative? Is it possible I have had it for longer and that I just never tested positive on a blood screening? Can someone help me clear up this confusion?

 

Thanks!

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@diethappiness

 

Hello and Welcome!

 

Well you have quite the conundrum there!

 

The "usual" time for a person to get enough antibodies to test positive is about 3-4 months. However, we have had a few on here who tested positive with a culture with the first OB, who are still showing up H- 6-9 months later. Part of the reason for this may be their particular immune system is really keeping the virus in check, or perhaps the test (which only tests for 1 or the many proteins in the virus) just isn't finding any of that one.

 

I think you should look into the Western Blot test ... it tests for 14 proteins and is considered the Gold Standard of testing... also you can do a phone consult with the Doctor there ... she is one of the top doctors in the country regarding H so she may have some other ideas about what is going on. The consult is $5/minute... should be well worth it to get an answer if you need that.

 

Dr. Lisa Taulbee at the Westover Heights Clinic,http://westoverheights.com/ (503) 226-6678 ... she can order the test for you through Quest Labs. It costs $5/minute for a consult … cheap IMO for clarity and/or peace of mind.

 

(((HUGS)))

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