New test for earlier detection of lyme disease developed
Sunday, June 20, 2010 13:39 IST
Washington, DC: A more sensitive test for Lyme disease that may offer earlier detection and lower cost has been developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health.
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted to animals and humans by deer ticks.
A skin lesion at the site of the bite is one of the first signs of infection followed by potential neurological, cardiac, and rheumatological complications upon entering the bloodstream.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends a two-step blood test for diagnosing the disease, however, several limitations include low sensitivity during the early stages of infection, significant time and expense, and an inability to distinguish between active and prior infection.
In previous studies, the luciferase immunoprecipitation system (LIPS) test showed promise at detecting a variety of infectious agents including viral and fungal pathogens.
In the latest research, LIPS was evaluated for its ability to detect antibody responses to Borrelia burgdorferi proteins in blood samples taken from a patient group (some healthy and some with Lyme disease) as well as a control group.
The researchers found that diagnostic levels of 98 percent to 100 percent were achieved using LIPS in conjunction with the synthetic protein VOVO.
"These results suggest that screening by the LIPS test with VOVO and other B. burgdorferi antigens offers an efficient quantitative approach for evaluation of the antibody responses in patients with Lyme disease," say the researchers.
The details are reported in the June 2010 issue of the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology.
-------------------- "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalms 73:26
bit 4/09, diagnosed 1/10 Posts: 3043 | From PA | Registered: Dec 2009
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Starfall1969
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
There is hope.
Thanks for posting.
Posts: 1682 | From Dillsburg, PA | Registered: Sep 2008
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onbam
Unregistered
posted
Antibody tests are only useful if you're producing antibodies, which many if not most of us aren't. And nothing coming from the federal government is going to be worthwhile, I'm afraid. They are the reason we're suffering.
Lida Mattman's tests, effectively banned when police raided her lab and Bowen was sued, and this, http://tinyurl.com/deusum patented and withheld by the Steerites, seem to have been the best. Darkfield microscopy, used for the detection of every other spirochete disaease, is also useful, but the government has dissuaded doctors from using it.
It is not that better tests need to be developed; it's that they need to be made available to us.
sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
I think Bowen was sued because someone got a test & it was positive. They treated aggressively with abx & the person had to have their gall bladder removed due to side effects from the drugs.
I guess they did another test & found out that they didn't have Lyme. If I recall correctly, that was the reason why Bowen Labs closed. I don't think it was a conspiracy in this case. I might be wrong... Alot of bizarre stuff goes on in the world.
I'm not going to get my hopes up about any new tests until some time has passed to see if they really are accurate.
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FYI -
Posted on Mon, May. 25, 2009 Who's left to pay this big verdict?
Two Kansas City couples who were falsely diagnosed with Lyme disease have won verdicts totaling $30 million against the Florida lab that tested their blood.
Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners handed down the verdicts last week against Bowen Research and Training Institute Inc. of Tarpon Springs, Fla., and in favor of Keith and Sheri Klausner and David and Brenda Lampton.
Manners, who tried the case without a jury, heard evidence from the plaintiffs only. Bowen did not send anyone to the trial.
It's not clear whether Bowen still exists. Its old Web site has been supplanted by one for Central Florida Research Inc., which lists some of the same principals. The phone number for Central Florida, however, is disconnected or no longer in service.
Bowen was founded by JoAnne Whitaker, who held herself out as ``an internationally recognized research and teaching physician.'' Whitaker, formerly Bowen's president and director of research, voluntarily relinquished Bowen's license to operate as a clinical laboratory in 2002. After the Florida Department of Health found that Bowen had continued to do clinical testing of patients, Whitaker voluntarily relinquished her Florida medical license in 2007.
The Klausners' saga began in November 2004, when, after experiencing severe joint pain, Keith Klausner went to Health Centers of America-Kansas City, which diagnosed him with Lyme disease. HCAKC recommended the Bowen Q-RIBb test and, in return for a $250 ``donation'' for the test, sent his blood to Bowen. The lab reported that it had identified the organism that causes the disease in his blood.
Klausner underwent months of treatment, including intravenous antibiotics ``and numerous medications and `alternative' substances,'' according to the Klausners' lawsuit.
HCKAC told his wife that she, too, probably had Lyme disease because the disease was transmissible through tears, mucus, blood or sexual contact. Sheri Klausner's blood was sent to Bowen, where it, too, tested positive.
In June 2005, Keith Klausner was admitted to Providence Medical Center's emergency department. The treating physicians told him he did not have Lyme disease and had undergone months of unnecessary therapy.
The Lamptons' experience was similar. Before going to HCKAC in November 2003, Brenda Lampton had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. After HCKAC diagnosed her with Lyme disease, her blood, after payment of the $250 ``donation,'' was sent to Bowen, which confirmed the diagnosis.
Lampton then underwent months of intravenous treatment, which worsened her condition. Eventually she was admitted to the hospital, where she had her gallbladder removed and developed a pulmonary embolism, according to the Lamptons' suit. Her husband, meanwhile, underwent unnecessary oral antibiotic therapy after Bowen said his blood had tested positive for Lyme disease.
In his verdicts, Manners awarded Keith Klausner $9.7 million in medical, non-economic and punitive damages; Sheri Klausner nearly $6 million; Brenda Lampton $8.6 million; and David Lampton $6 million. After various statutory caps, the total comes to nearly $24 million -- still one of the biggest judgments on record this year in Missouri.
HCAKC, while originally a defendant in the suits, was later dismissed.
Whether the Klausners and Lamptons will be able to collect the judgments is an open question.
``That's what we're busy with now,'' said Lance Baughman, of Wright Green & Baughman in Lee's Summit, and an attorney for the Klausners and Lamptons.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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onbam
Unregistered
posted
But how can one say that a patient doesn't have it when they're using tests with 30-50% sensitivity? As I recall, these shyster lawyers had a website specifically targeting people who thought they had gotten false positives. Doctors/labs make mistakes all the time--how often does something like this happen to them?
And if the treatment was the source of the problem, why was the lab the defendant?
That's scary that they say it's in mucus. I'll try to call HCAKC tomorrow and ask about that (so much for sleeping tonight...)
sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
The law works in mysterious ways... It's hard to know which is what. I don't know why HCAKC was dismissed. I don't know why it all came down to the lab.
onbam- please don't obsess over mucus. Some people feel that HCAKC is a rip off place. I wouldn't look to them for answers.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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'Kete-tracker
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 17189
posted
Quote: "The researchers found that diagnostic levels of 98 percent to 100 percent were achieved using LIPS in conjunction with the synthetic protein VOVO."
w-w-W-Hat?? First, what the heck is this synthetic protein "VOVO" & how is it involved with the new Lyme screening... Exactly?
Secondly, they say that "98% to 100% diagnostic Levels were achieved". What are they SAYING here? That the new test is 98 to 100% accurate in detecting Lyme disease?
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