Negative integers, and how to handle them

Hi DevCentral. Im trying to write an iRule that takes an integer from HTTP headers, and use comparisons to determine a node to send to. Our current method works when our integer is a positive number, however when the integer is returned as a negative value, the 'if' statement doesn't match.

Do we need to find a way to cast the integer? Or are we going to have to try and use regex on the binary/hex values?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Stefan