Lyme ELISA testing with NHS

[minkeygirl]

I'm asking this for a friend.

"My Dr says that the positive IGG on the ELISA test doesn't prove anything, I have to wait for the western blot to come back.

But some people have been telling me that a positive ELISA is very very rare on an NHS test and probably 99% means that I have Lyme Disease." " I am very confused at the mo."

Can someone shed some light on this?

Thanks

 

[Esther12]

ELISA can provide false positives (as well as false negatives), so people are only diagnosed with Lyme after a positive western blot.

There's lot of dodgy stuff around on Lyme testing, so it's best to be cautious, and try to make sure that one is using testing with some evidence for reliability, which the ELISA and western blots tests do have. At this point, I'd just see how things go.

Some of these matters got discussed here (the first couple of pages probably provide a fair impression of the current state of things): http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/lyme-testing.25260/

Best of luck.

 

[minkeygirl]

Thanks. I"ll pass the info on.

 

[xrunner]

Testing is unreliable, often a test which was negative turns positive once the treatment is under way because of the reversal of immune suppression. Response to treatment is in my own personal experience more important than any test result.
The following doc summarises studies on testing and other helpful info when dealing with the various aspects of this complex illness including treatment.

http://www.ilads.org/lyme_research/chronic_lyme.html

 

[Ema]

Actually the ELISA is one of the least reliable Lyme tests. You'd be as well off flipping a coin.

False positives are less common than false negatives on ELISA testing but they do happen. Herpes viral infections can cross react with ELISA tests and cause a false positive in particular.

This is why Lyme disease remains a clinical diagnosis to be made by a physician experienced in treating Lyme disease. The testing is only meant to be one piece of the diagnostic puzzle. Like most all testing, there are limitations but that does not render it useless or dodgy.

I would wait for the Western Blot to confirm.