Dr called me today I had STD testing done. all test were negative except herpes I tested positive for 1 and 2. I have had cold sores all my life. The dr told me my test were non type specific. Which I shouldnt be too concerned cause I probably have herpes type one which cause me to test positive for type 2. my question is I have been reading and is there a non specific test for igg is igg a test or just an antibody they can test with a non specific type test. I am freaking out here I have never had any symptoms of type 2 herpes. someone please advise I would so appreciate it I can't even get to sleep I am so worried about this

The best thing to do is get copies of your test results so you can post them here.

It sounds like the doctor gave you the wrong test, either an IgM test, or a combination IgG test for HSV l/ll. The IgM test is a non type specific blood test and should be avoided. The result only muddy the waters and add confusion. There are older non-type specific IgG blood tests. These tests alone aren't much help since 60-80% of the population has oral herpes (HSV1), and you won't know your HSV2 status.

The correct test is an IgG type specific blood test, giving you a separate result for HSV1 and HSV2. The brand name 'HerpeSelect' is the most common in the US. IgG is a class of antibodies. The IgG antibodies for herpes are specific to herpes. Meaning if you have these antibodies, then you have the virus.

1 in 4 adults over the age of 12 (yes, twelve) has genitals herpes, yet 90% don't know it cause the symptoms are so mild they go unnoticed or misdiagnosed.

so there are tests for non type specific igg? My dr told me not to be concerned cause a positive 1 could cause a positive 2 and most likely would because they are not type specific but I am still worrying thanks for your reply

why do doctors freak patients out and give these old tests if there are newer ones and if 80 percent of the population has type 1 and when you test the non type specific cannot differeciate between the two and gives you positives for both I just don't understand that. I have been reading on the internet that most health care providers do do the old tests

I have just recently (yesterday) had blood work done and on the lab sheet it says I am being tested for HSV - IgM and IgG with follow-up blood work in 6 weeks. What does this mean exactly?

I'm confused by the two different tests as well...and wonder why the Dr. is calling for follow-up blood work in 6 weeks? If I test positive, doesn't that mean that I am and if so why more blood work in 6 weeks?

Confused....can anyone shed some light on this please???

from what I have been reading you need to ask for a type specific test if you don't more than likely you are getting a non-type specific test which will cause a positive result if you are infected with herpes 1 which most the world is

LabCorp is one of the larger processing labs in the US. Their standard process is an added cost to the patient but can be avoid if the HerpeSelect test is requested and performed for both HSV1 and HSV2.

LabCorp's standard process uses a combination IgG test for HSV l/ll. If the result is positive, then the blood is tested again with the HerpeSelect test for HSV2. If this second test is negative, then it's assumed you're positive for HSV1 and no further testing is done. If the second test is positive, then your blood is tested again with a HerpeSelect test for HSV1 (Source: LabCorp's web site)

If only the combination IgG test, without follow-up is performed, then it a waste of money to the patient (unless the result is negative).

An IgM test should not be ordered at all for Herpes testing. Quest Lab announce a couple months ago they're stopping the IgM test because of the confusion it causes.

How do you know if the follow up testing was performed? My Dr told me only a non type specific igm and igg were done. Again I have had no symptoms of Herpes 2 only 1 I have had fever blisters come and go since I was a little girl and even had a mouth blister the day of testing

Get hard copies of the results, so you can post them here. It kind of hard to understand results when they're being read out loud over the phone.

Here are 4 examples of what your results might say:
1) IgG HSV l/ll = 12.7 (high)
This is a combination test, one numeric value for both types, its tell you that you're positive for one or both types of the herpes virus (HSV1 or HSV2 or both). Basically not much help since 60-80% of the population has HSV1.

2) IgG HSV1 = .53
IgG HSV2 = .67
This is a type specific result, which shows negative results for both types. (values will never be zero, values below .90 are negative)

3) IgG HSV2 = 4.7
This is a type specific test for only HSV2, which returned a positive value. Numeric values above 1.10 are positive.

4) IgM HSV1/2 = high
Toss this result, an IgM result is of no value.

Hope this helps.

What my doctor basically told me was my tests were non type specific and that if I have an outbreak come back in and test I have never had an outbreak except for what I said earlier in another post the oral herpes I have had oral herpes (fever blisters) come and go since I was a child. If my test were type specific I don't think the dr would be telling me not to worry plus she specifically told me they were non type specific but I worry anyways I just decided to test out of the blue for STD's kinda wishing now I hadent. Thanks for your help I truly appreciate it sounds like I had the non type specific igg test and the non type specific igm which from what I have been reading dr's shouldnt even order anymore. I also read a lot of doctors are behind the times per se when it comes to herpes testing again thank you for your help