False Positive HSV Test

Dear Ask The Doctor: How reliable is the HSV test? Me and my partner did the test. I was diagnosed positive with genital herpes and he was negative. He is the only person I ever had sex with.

Dear Limia: No test is perfect. It's always possible for a test to give inaccurate results, and the accuracy of a herpes blood test depends on which specific test was used. The sensitivity and specificity of HSV test range in between 91% to 99% depending on the type of test. The Herpes Select ELISA is reported back as an index value. A value greater than 1.1 is considered positive. If you have no history of genital herpes outbreaks, did not have a positive culture or PCR test for HSV, or have no risk factors for genital herpes, you should know the index value. False positives have been reported with values less than 3.5. If your value is less than 3.5, ask to be tested again with a different test, preferably with another antibody test called the Western blot.