#Lyme disease ab with reflex to blot igg igm skin#
Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a modified two-tiered testing algorithm for diagnosis of Lyme disease (see SLYME / Lyme Antibody Modified 2-Tier with Reflex, Serum).Ĭulture or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of skin biopsies obtained near the margins of ECM are frequently positive. Although there are no proteins that specifically diagnose B burgdorferi infection, the number of proteins recognized in the immunoblot assay is correlated with diagnosis. An immunoblot identifies the specific proteins to which the patient's antibodies bind. An immunoblot assay is used to supplement positive or equivocal Lyme EIA results. Accordingly, specimens are first tested by the more sensitive enzyme immunoassay (EIA). The Second National Conference on the Serologic Diagnosis of Lyme Disease (1994) recommended that laboratories use a 2-test approach for the serologic diagnosis of Lyme disease. Further, secondary symptoms may occur even though the patient does not recall having a tick bite or a rash. In some cases, a definitive distinction between stages is not always seen. Neurologic and cardiac symptoms may appear with stage 2 and arthritic symptoms with stage 3 of Lyme disease.
Any of the following clinical manifestations may be present in patients with Lyme disease: arthritis, neurological or cardiac disease, or skin lesions. Erythema chronicum migrans (ECM), a unique expanding skin lesion with central clearing, which results in a ring-like appearance, is the first stage of the disease. Inflammation around the tick bite causes skin lesions. Lyme disease exhibits a variety of symptoms that may be confused with immune and inflammatory disorders. In Europe, Ixodes ricinus transmits the spirochete. Endemic areas for Lyme disease in the United States correspond with the distribution of 2 tick species, Ixodes dammini (Northeastern and upper Midwestern US) and Ixodes pacificus (West Coast US). The spirochete is transmitted to humans through the bite of Ixodes species ticks. Lyme disease is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.
0 kommentar(er)
