Question:
2 years ago a woman I was involved with went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Herpes. I was the only person she had slept with recently. (My ex had had herpes but I had always worn a condom)

I had an IGG/IGM (cant remember which) test done for both types 1 and 2 herpes and it came back negative. Still unconvinced, I had a Western blot test done. This too came back negative.

Recently, another woman I had been involved with was diagnosed with Herpes from during our 1 year exclusive relationship.

Obviously I have had Herpes for years. I got it from my ex despite wearing condoms and have had it for years and not known.

My question is why didnt those 2 tests come back positive? If the error rates can be believed, the odds of a positive person having 2 incorrect test results are 1 in a thousand.

Am I simply unlucky enough to have been that 1 in a thousand? Or are there mitigating factors/unpublished problems about these tests not working on nonsymptomatic people? I am obvbiously contagious, so why dont I test positive for the antibody?

Answer:
I would love an answer to this one as well. I was diagnosed recently with hsv2, my bf of 2 years is negative. Now, discussing sexual history, he is 47 years old and has never used a condom and has had numberous partners. Now, I don't always use a condom, but I am in contact with anyone I could have gotten this from and noone is hsv2+. I just knew he was the one I got it from, but he tested negative. Also, he has had an std before about 6 years ago and I have never had one. I tested positive from a swab test, he tested negative from a blood test. I just wonder, since the blood test only detects antibodies and not the virus itself, and a person has never had an outbreak for the body to develop antibodies, I would think it is possible to be a carrier and not test positive. I could be wrong though....