posted
Hubby just got off the phone with Amanda who is currently in charge of the new lab located in Raleigh, NC. This is the lab which will use the new culture medium for Bartonella testing in humans.
The exciting news is that the lab is in the final stages of getting certification and should be up and running in 3 months or so.
Interested persons can get on the email list for the lab at their website. The official opening of the lab will be announced on the website before a public announcement is made. They are no longer doing any research testing at this time.
Hubby and I are both accountants by trade and have no scientific training -- but this is what we were told by the lab. Real time PCR testing for bart (as is being done by the F lab and Clongen Lab) has a high rate of false negative test results. We were told that those type of tests yield about a 6% positive result. It is my understanding that you would need to do about 20 real-time PCR tests to rule out a false negative test.
Supposedly because of the use of the culture medium (patented by the North Carolina College of Veterinary Medicine or some of the docs there) the lab results will be 50 to 80 times more sensitive than real-time PCR testing alone.
Click on the "Technology" link at the site above for the detailed explanation.
Dr Breitschwerdt has published 2 or 3 journal articles so far based on research using this new culture medium.
Here is a link to one of his journal articles -- link previously supplied by Kitty.
The journal article makes for scarey reading, but I fully believe that bart can be as devastating as the author outlines.
One other point -- Amanda did mention that sometimes other things grow out in this culture besides bartonella and one thing she mentioned in particular was mycoplasma.
From hubby's standpoint I think this new testing is probably one of the most significant things that has happened in several years. We will be on pins and needles waiting for the lab to go public.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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northstar
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posted
Thank you for relaying this info. Looking forward to use their new test.
I found the sign up for email in the "contact" section, in case anyone else is looking. Northstar
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feelfit
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posted
Bea,
Thank you for the update. Amanda was the person that I spoke to in early Fall as well.
I agree, this is a huge, huge, step forward...very significant. I don't know why when Kitty or myself have posted on this it has generated very little interest.
This will be big people...the test is not fool-proof but it is 1,0000's of times better than anything currently available.
Thanks again, Feelfit
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sutherngrl
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Interesting! So does this mean they can use this test to test for Bart and Myco?
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posted
When it is ready to roll, I bet there will be a lot of interest. Until then, people are probably just sitting on the sidelines, a bit burned out on the accuracy of any lab testing. Don't want to get their hopes up just yet.
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djf2005
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posted
I agree Lou.
Also, how will this change treatment options?
Will they identify the pathogen and then have a reasonable idea of how to eradicate it? Or is it just for identifying species?
Thanks Bea
-------------------- "Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you."
CD57
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posted
what about the NC State Lab that you can send your blood to? The one who is/was testing animals for bartonella?
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posted
Galaxy is a spinout of NC State. All testing will now be through Galaxy. They have already started animal testing @ Galaxy. Now we just wait for then to begin human testing.
Posts: 819 | From East Coast | Registered: Apr 2009
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posted
sutherngrl -- Pretty sure they will offer tests for both bartonella and mycoplasma.
djf2005 -- Initially think only diagnosis will be available, but think future plans are to develop antibiotic sensitivity testing. But as Amanda told hubby, many people who do not test positive by antibody tests will test positive by their methods.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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djf2005
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posted
Bea-
Sounds like a good plan. I would very much like to know more definitively what plaques me and be able to have more strategic treatment approach.
Please update any/all who get tested.
Thanks
Derek
-------------------- "Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you."
posted
I just got off the phone with my daughter's LLMD. He is ordering this test for her. The paperwork I have says it is for "research purposes only".
The website doesn't seem to be updated but apparently, they are doing some human testing now.
They are testing 3 blood samples taken 2 or 3 days apart for her.
His hope is that this will give us a clear direction in her treatment.
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MariaA
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posted
How much money is the test?
-------------------- Symptom Free!!! Thank you all!!!!
Yes the lab is still working with some docs for research I think. But it is still not accepting samples from the general public as far as I know.
The other doc who works with hubby's LLMD was one of the docs involved in the initial research phase, but hubby's doc still can't send samples to the lab.
I also read recently that the lab prefers people be off bart antibiotics for 3 or 4 weeks before testing if possible.
After 2 plus years of treating bart hubby is really getting impatient to have this testing done.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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blinkie
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posted
Bea,
Will this testing be able to identify the strain of bart involved? I wonder if this will have any impact on "BLO"?
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tick battler
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posted
Thanks for posting Bea. This is very exciting. We will definitely use it when it becomes available.
tickbattler
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CD57
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posted
Just FYI....I pleaded with the NC State Vet Lab n Dec for them to test my blood for bartonella spp. They did...for free, with the caveat that it was for research only and that I needed to be off abx for 3-4 weeks.
My tests -- antibodies and DNA for bartonella spp -- were negative. I was pretty surprised. Is this what Galaxy will be offering?
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