Thousands could have Lyme disease without knowing

[Helen]

A reliable test for Lyme infections will change diagnosing, and possibly treatment as well forever. The test Tickplex is considered to be reliable, and is planned to be available in a month. http://www.tickplex.com/

Originally it was an EU project aiming to develope a reliable/valid test, but of some reason Finnish researchers and the Finnish state took over and completed the project.

The technology that is used will make it possible to analyze 20 different microbes, so this shall diagnose both Lyme and co-infections in one test.

Hopefully this test will make an end of all discussions about late stage Lyme being a fact, or not. It should also be able to make it possible to evaluate if a treatment has been successful, or not, and finally the discussion instead can be about how the infections should be properly treated. I do look forward to this step in the right direction. It should speed up research about treatment options.

@matsli , I hope you don´t mind that I post your excellent summary from another website.

I also hope that a google translation (from Swedish) will give you a picture about the Tickplex test.


Mer information om testet Tickplex
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By Mats Lindström / 10 oktober, 2016 / Okategoriserade / 11 kommentarer

Dr Leona Gilbert, vid University of Jyväskylä i Finland, leder ett forskningsteam som utvecklat en ny metod för vektorburna infektioner med mer korrekt identifiering. Testet heter Tickplex.

Leona Gilbert uppger att Tickplex kommer att lanseras i januari 2017Enligt Gilbert kan fästingar vara orsaken till dussintals olika mikrober som orsakar en rad olika infektioner. Hittills har den enda möjligheten varit att testa mot en patogen i taget. ”Vår metod gör det möjligt att identifiera 20 olika mikrober vid en enda provtagning”, säger Gilbert.

Testet avslöjar vilken eller vilka infektioner man lider av samt även om det är en allvarlig eller mild infektion.

Gilbert kommer i den första fasen använda sig av privata laboratorier i Finland, Tyskland och USA. Målet är att få ett tillgängligt test för finska sjukhus och vårdcentraler under 2018.

I nuläget kan diagnostisering av infektioner, orsakade av vektorburna infektioner, dröja i veckor. Den nya metoden kommer att ge svar på fyra timmar.

Det nya testet är vetenskapligt testat på 1500 patienter. Enligt resultat de erhållit har 74 procent av patienterna en vektorburen infektion.
Källa

Leona Gilbert ingår i FSI:s Vetenskapliga råd
Leona Gilbert är en av de som tackat ja till att ingå i det Vetenskapliga rådet för Föreningen för Svårdiagnostiserade Infektioner (FSI). Följ föreningens sida här genom att registrera din e-postadress. Snart kommer det bli möjlighet att bli medlem.
http://www.blimedlem.wordpress.com

 

[justy]

The test Tickplex is considered to be reliable, and is planned to be available in a month

W\ILL IT be available to individulas do you think, across Europe?

 

[Helen]

W\ILL IT be available to individulas do you think, across Europe?

Yes. In the first phase it will be used at private labs in Finland, Germany and US according to one of the researchers. Then it´s expected to be used at hospitals, by GP´s and other interested doctors in Finland. Hopefully it will be spread like that in other countries as well.

If the authorities have the genuine will to diagnose Lyme ( sometimes you could ask yourself if they really would like to) this test should be the norm. There will probably pop up other similar tests based on nanotechnology that may be as valid as this. Lipkin mentioned about a valid test that they had developed.

 

[matsli]

A reliable test for Lyme infections will change diagnosing, and possibly treatment as well forever. The test Tickplex is considered to be reliable, and is planned to be available in a month. http://www.tickplex.com/

Originally it was an EU project aiming to develope a reliable/valid test, but of some reason Finnish researchers and the Finnish state took over and completed the project.

The nanotechnology that is used will be able to analyze 20 different microbes, so this shall diagnose both Lyme and co-infections in one test.

Hopefully this test will make an end of all discussions about late stage Lyme being a fact, or not. It should also be able to make it possible to evaluate if a treatment has been successful, or not, and finally the discussion instead can be about how the infections should be properly treated. I do look forward to this step in the right direction. It should speed up research about treatment options.

@matsli , I hope you don´t mind that I post your excellent summary from another website.

I also hope that a google translation (from Swedish) will give you a picture about the Tickplex test."

@Helene

The right adress is www.fsi-sverige.se
And the text is from my private blog: www.newsaboutdisease.com

Dr Leona Gilbert told me last week Tickplex is going to be relesed in a few weeks.

My wife participated in the study last summer with 1500 others. She had positive B.Burgdorferi and a lot of other infections. But it is still secret what infections it tests for. My wife is much better today after 8 years with wrong diagnosis ME/CFS. If she had got antibiotics from the beginning our lives had been much better. But now we are happy to know what it is. She doesn´t need the wheelchair any more

http://www.tickplex.com/

 

[Helen]

@matsli , thanks for the information that you added. I copied it as others might miss it as it was at the end of my text. I´m really happy to get these good news, and most important was to hear that your wife is so much better .

@Helene

" The right adress is www.fsi-sverige.se
And the text is from my private blog: www.newsaboutdisease.com

Dr Leona Gilbert told me last week Tickplex is going to be relesed in a few weeks.

My wife participated in the study last summer with 1500 others. She had positive B.Burgdorferi and a lot of other infections. But it is still secret what infections it tests for. My wife is much better today after 8 years with wrong diagnosis ME/CFS. If she had got antibiotics from the beginning our lives had been much better. But now we are happy to know what it is. She doesn´t need the wheelchair any more

http://www.tickplex.com/ "

 

[TrixieStix]

I have a diagnosis of M.E caused by long term, late stage, untreated neurological Lyme disease. At this stage - over 20 years in, possibly more, my case has become so complex that I cant have any treatment and just get sicker...

So sorry to hear of all you've been through and continue to go through. Just a few days ago I received the results of the Igenex Lyme testing my ME/CFS specialist had me do. The results have thrown me a bit. Could I be this sick because of a longstanding untreated Lyme infection???

I tested positive on the b. Burgdorferi IFA test and also Igenex positive on IgM with lots of bands detected (18+, 31++, 34+, 41++,58++, 66+, 83-93+) with 4 of those being lyme specific bands (5 if you count 41). Only band on the IgG test that showed up was 41++. If only 1 or 2 bands had been detected I would be more skeptical about false positives caused by other viruses, etc. But with so many bands showing up plus the positive IFA test perhaps this means it's unlikely to be a false positive and I indeed am infected with Lyme?

As for symptoms, last April I had some kind of very severe flare that brought on all sorts of sudden pronounced neurological symptoms and one of them was the bottom 1/2 of the left side of my face experiencing sudden paralysis/droopiness that lasted 22 hrs and sent me to the ER worried about stroke. I keep reading about facial paralysis as a common Lyme symptom. This stuff never ends does it....sigh.

 

[Helen]

But with so many bands showing up plus the positive IFA test perhaps this means it's unlikely to be a false positive and I indeed am infected with Lyme?

Also your symptoms may well be from a Lyme infection. I do hope that you can get help wit this as soon as possible. Did you tell your story in any post or in your own thread? I´ve struggled with Lyme and co-infections for years, but at least I now have a doctor who knows how to handle Lyme.

 

[justy]

@Helen , What I am really wondering if this test is commercially available - so will I be able to use this test from the UK and send to, for example a finnish or Swedish lab? if so that would be great news! It would take too long if we had to wait for the test to be adopted by Drs etc in the UK - perhaps decades.

 

[Helen]

What I am really wondering if this test is commercially available - so will I be able to use this test from the UK and send to, for example a finnish or Swedish lab? if so that would be great news!

Arminlabs in Germany will offer the Tickplex test when it´s released, in a month or two, so it will be pretty easy to get it.

Did you read the page Diagnostic test on the homepage of Tickplex? Sounds too good to be true for us that have struggled undiagnosed for years, and even decades. Hopefully it will be able to tell if a treatment has erradicated the bacterias from Lyme infections as well as from co-infections.
http://www.tickplex.com/

 

[TrixieStix]

I know the current Ceres Nano test only detects b. Buegdorferi (has anyone on PR taken it?) but I'm sure they are working on developing a test that will test more strains. Here is a new article. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has just given them a chunk of $ for research as well.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/07/tech...tes-may-improve-testing-for-lyme-disease.html

 

[alicec]

I know the current Ceres Nano test only detects b. Buegdorferi (has anyone on PR taken it?) but I'm sure they are working on developing a test that will test more strains. Here is a new article. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has just given them a chunk of $ for research as well.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/07/tech...tes-may-improve-testing-for-lyme-disease.html

That sounds extremely promising. From what I read the existing test does in fact detect all the infectious strains of Borrelia since it is detecting the highly conserved OspA antigen.

The $ are not going to improve the test but rather to improve availability and apply the technology to detecting other infectious agents.

 

[alicec]

Did you read the page Diagnostic test on the homepage of Tickplex? Sounds too good to be true

It is extremely frustrating that they give no indication whatsoever about what they are actually measuring in the test. It is impossible to judge whether the claims for the test are realistic or not.

They seem to be reputable people so I will suspend my disbelief and wait. Nevertheless this complete absence of any useful information is usually a red flag.

 

[IreneF]

@Hip, I cannot help but wonder what impact rituximab might have in people with a Borrelial infection. It might be an interesting dilemma for those of us that have both ME/CFS and tbd diagnoses. I actually have a fervernt hope to have to embrace that dilemma one day.

I am pretty sure we discussed this earlier, like a year or so ago.

I think that rituximab would have a neutral to bad effect on Borrelia infections, since it kills off antibody-producing cells.

 

[TrixieStix]

That sounds extremely promising. From what I read the existing test does in fact detect all the infectious strains of Borrelia since it is detecting the highly conserved OspA antigen.

The $ are not going to improve the test but rather to improve availability and apply the technology to detecting other infectious agents.

They only mention b. Burgdorferi in their descriptions of the test and what it detects. If they were intending it to be used to detect other strains you would think they would mention that. I am also wondering if this test becomes less effetive the longer a person has been infected. I saw some comments in a Lyme forum about how possibly the production of OspA decreases at some point. ?

http://www.ceresnano.com/nanotrap-r-lyme-antigen-test-faqs

 

[Helen]

It is extremely frustrating that they give no indication whatsoever about what they are actually measuring in the test. It is impossible to judge whether the claims for the test are realistic or not.

They seem to be reputable people so I will suspend my disbelief and wait. Nevertheless this complete absence of any useful information is usually a red flag.

I heard it´s about a patent that isn´t in place yet. I´m sure we´ll get to know all we need in a near future.

 

[alicec]

They only mention b. Burgdorferi in their descriptions of the test and what it detects. If they were intending it to be used to detect other strains you would think they would mention that. I am also wondering if this test becomes less effetive the longer a person has been infected. I saw some comments in a Lyme forum about how possibly the production of OspA decreases at some point. ?

They use the term in the sense of B.b senso lato. In the paper referenced in the article you linked they make it clear that other Borrelia strains are detected also. In that study, they applied the test to various stages of Borreliosis.

 

[Helen]

@alicec, isn´t it interesting that in this paper they talk about resistent or recurrent Lyme borreliosis as if these conditions and terms were just accepted facts by all expected readers.

 

[duncan]

I am excited by this technology. For early stage, it appears robust, and the numbers are very encouraging.

I have a concern that if there is a weakness, it may manifest in late stage cases. Conventional wisdom is that Bb tends to flee fluids like blood (or urine?), and has a tropism for tissue. Hopefully tests like this will belie or overcome that. Or, it may act similar to a PCR, in that, if you register a positive, it will be hard to dispute; but having a negative, for late stage cases, might prove little definitively. What are they quoting? 88%? Still very impressive.

 

[IreneF]

@alicec, isn´t it interesting that in this paper they talk about resistent or recurrent Lyme borreliosis as if these conditions and terms were just accepted facts by all expected readers.

Some (one?) species in the Borrelia genus cause relapsing fever. Sorry, not feeling energetic enough to supply details.

 

[TrixieStix]

Some (one?) species in the Borrelia genus cause relapsing fever. Sorry, not feeling energetic enough to supply details.

"Some other well-known species of Borrelia include Borrelia recurrentis, Borrelia hermsii and Borrelia miyamotoi, which are all associated with Relapsing fever, which is another infectious disease"