What is a western blot test for Lyme disease?
First of all, it should be noted that the Western blot is usually performed as a follow-up to anELISA test, which is the most commonly employed initial test for Lyme disease. “ELISA” isan acronym for “enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.”
What is APHL guidance & interpretation of Lyme disease serologic test results?
APHL Guidance and Interpretation of Lyme Disease Serologic Test Results This report describes the proper interpretation of serologic testing for B. burgdorferi and identifies best practices for reporting results to clinicians, public health agencies, and patients. When assessing a patient for Lyme disease, health care providers should consider:
What is the second test for Lyme disease?
There are two options for the second test. One is called a Western blot, which looks at how your antibodies react to specific parts of the Lyme disease bacteria. The Western blot test has been part of the two-step testing system since 1994 and is more commonly used.
What is a western blot?
(The Western blot, which identifies specificantibody proteins, is but one kind of immunoblot; there is also a Northern blot, whichseparates and identifies RNA fragments, and a Southern blot, which does the same for DNAsequences.) In a Western blot, the testing laboratory looks for antibodies directed against awide range of Bb proteins.