Sensitivity of a point of care tick-test for the development of Lyme borreliosis

Background: A commercially available self-test for the detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in ticks was evaluated for its ability to predict erythema migrans formation. Findings: The self-test was performed on 127 Ixodes ricinus from 122 humans that reported tick bites at enrolment and occurrence of symptoms during follow-up. The self-test gave negative results on all the 122 individuals, 14 of whom reported erythema migrans (EM) at follow-up of which 10 were confirmed by their GP. The estimated sensitivity of the self-test for prediction of EM formation is 0% (95% Cl: 0%-28%). Conclusions: This self-test is not suitable for reducing the number needed to treat in a post-exposure prophylaxis setting as it already missed all the obvious early Lyme borreliosis cases.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Sprong, H., van Leeuwen, A.D., Fonville, M., Harms, M., van Vliet, A.J.H., van Pelt, W., Ferreira, J.A., van den Wijngaard, C.C.
Format:	Article/Letter to editor biblioteca
Language:	English
Subjects:	bite, borne diseases, europe, ixodes-ricinus, netherlands,
Online Access:	https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/sensitivity-of-a-point-of-care-tick-test-for-the-development-of-l
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