Laboratory Diagnosis of Tick-Borne Infections

Lyme Disease - Serologic Assays

July 2010

For those patients testing positive by IgM Western blot alone, the general recommendation is to repeat serologic testing on a new specimen after 14-21 days. After this time, we should be able to demonstrate seroconversion of IgG, which provides strong supportive evidence of infection.

A few more points regarding Lyme Western blot: If testing is performed within 4 weeks of symptom onset, it is recommended that the results of both IgM and IgG Western blot be used in the interpretation. However, in patients with disease duration of greater than 1 month, the results of the IgM Western blot should not be considered diagnostic, and a positive IgM alone should not be used to diagnose infection due to the increased possibility of false positive results during the later stages of disease.

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Lyme Disease - Serologic Assays

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Jump to section:

• Introduction
• Outline
• Patient Case 1
• Laboratory Workup
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis
• Typical Positive Result by IFA
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis
• Diagnostic Tests for HME and HGA
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis
• Patient Case 2
• Giemsa-stained Preparation Slide
• Giemsa-stained Preparation Slide
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Babesia
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Babesia
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Babesia
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Babesia
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Babesia
• Patient Case 3
• Lyme Disease - Diagnostic Approach
• Conventional Methods for Diagnosis of Lyme Disease
• Patient Case 3 (continued)
• Diagnosis of Lyme Disease
• Lyme Disease - Serologic Assays
• Lyme Disease - Serologic Assays
• Lyme Disease - Serologic Assays
• Patient Case 3 (continued)
• Lyme Disease - Serologic Assays
• Patient Case 3 (continued)
• Lyme Disease - Factors to Consider
• Conclusions
• References
• Questions?