I've just received a bill from Quest Diagnostics. I thought I was being tested for babesia, bartonella, and ehrlichia.
The bill shows the bart and ehrlichia, but it doesn't show babesia. It shows something called Nichols Aerobic Culture and something called Gram Stain Smear. Does anyone know whether either of these is a test for babesia?
And does anyone know about the reliability of Quest for testing for coinfections?
Thanks.
Peggy
Posted by cactus (Member # 7347) on :
Hi Peggy,
If I remember correctly, Nichols is the name of an associated Quest "specialty" lab, and the smear test might be the one for babesia...
I know Quest isn't considered very reliable for TBI testing, but that being said... my very first babesia test (ordered by a duck) was sent to Quest & came back positive. I'm fairly certain it was sent to Nichols Institute, and it was noted that way on the bill.