Hey, MBS.In my opinion, the most important missing piece of information here is: exactly what kind of test did you have, and more specifically, how prone is it to cross reactivity?
If you got one of the earlier ELISA tests, it's very possible that the equivocal results for hsv-2 are a testing anomaly, not an indication of infection. If the test you got was a new type-specific one, that's less likely.
As far as the question of co-infection, here are several pieces of possibly relevant data:
- It's not uncommon for people to have both hsv-1 and hsv-2. I don't remember the exact percentage of the population, but it's in double digits at least.
- Most people who have both contracted hsv-1 orally in their youth and hsv-2 genitally when they became sexually active.
- Cases where a person acquired both hsv-1 and hsv-2 simultaneously are almost unheard of - I think I remember one, and that was a sex worker, so there's no guarantee that she got both types from the same donor, just in the same time frame. Notice that I am talking about both TYPES, not both LOCATIONS. Lots of people get oral and genital herpes at the same time. The fact that cases of simultaneous infection are unreported doesn't mean it never happens, though. This would be a real pain in the ass to test for and I don't think any studies to look specifically at that have been chartered.
- There have been studies that look at shedding in people who have both hsv-1 and hsv-2, and the results suggest that people don't typically shed both types of virus at the same time.
Now, a little speculation:
Based on my limited info on shedding in people with both types of herpes, I would be very surprised to find that you contracted both types from the same encounter. If that's the only scenario that could lead to co-infection, I would call that a low probability option.
If your blood test was not a new type specific ELISA, then I would say that likelihood of the equivocal hsv-2 results being a testing odditiy are moderate.
However, if you really want to clear the air and know for sure, wait until 16 weeks post exposure and get a Western Blot. It's a very accurate test and looks at multiple antigens, so it is quite good at distinguishing types.
My free opinion...
M'sMom
RE: Blood Test Results
RE: Blood Test Results
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Your hsv2 is borderline and without further testing there is no way to be sure if it's due to hsv1 or not this early on in the game. You also very well could've contracted both hsv1 orally and hsv2 genitally from the same encounter ( they can both occur genitally too but it's more common for it to be one oral and the other genital - it's less than 5% of genital infections that include both hsv1 and hsv2 genitally ) so that's one more reason to retest later on. At 4 1/2 weeks yes indeed 50% of folks have seroconverted - that's the same as flipping a coin that your results are accurate and that it's only hsv1 going on in your body which is why I recommended in my original post to retest at a later date to be sure.