I have had + elisa and western blot igm band 23 and 41. just had a lymes serum pcr and it was -. any comments on this? Posted by Abxnomore (Member # 18936) on :
If it is negative, it does not mean you don't have Lyme. Testing is unreliable. If it were positive it could not be disputed, as it would mean that the DNA of the spirochete was found in your blood.
Posted by kitty9309 (Member # 19945) on :
If a PCR test is positive- it is a true positive. In other words, it is very specific.
PCR's have a very low yield. In other words, low sensitivity.
There has to be at least one fragment of the organism in the blood sample drawn. If it is there, it will be amplified and detected by PCR.
(As mentioned above)
Posted by cactus (Member # 7347) on :
A negative PCR test only means that in that particular sample of blood there were not any Lyme DNA fragments.
Throw a bucket of ping pong balls in a swimming pool, then use another bucket to scoop out a sample of pool water.
If you come up with ping pong balls in your sample - it means there are ping pong balls in the pool.
If you come up without any ping pong balls - does it mean there are no ping pong balls in the pool?
No. Just none in that sample.
A PCR test is limited in its usefulness, in that a positive is significant, but a negative is fairly meaningless.
Have you read Dr Burrascano's guidelines? He discusses the pros and cons of PCR testing.
Posted by ohioRN (Member # 21725) on :
thank you for your input
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
PCR testing is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but by checking only a sample of the haystack. A negative means nothing.
![[bonk]](graemlins/bonk.gif)