Diagnosis of Lyme Disease

How Is Lyme Disease Diagnosed?

One of the biggest challenges facing doctors and medical professionals when diagnosing Lyme disease is that many symptoms, whether at an early or late stage, can be non-specific and easily missed, or in other cases attributed to other causes.

When making a diagnosis a clinical approach is vital, taking into account medical history, any prevalent symptoms and signs, and a thorough discussion about potential tick-exposure. Ticks are so small that quite often people don’t notice that they have been bitten, so a detailed clinical inspection of the body can be critical in identifying any signs of rashes or irritation of the skin.

Discussing the recent travel history of anyone presenting potential Lyme disease symptoms is particularly important as there are regions within Europe and North America where infected ticks are highly prevalent. If potential patients have travelled to these areas during spring or autumn (when the ticks are at their most active) then the risk of infection must be investigated thoroughly, and this can be done in a variety of ways:

Looking for and identifying the Erythema Migrans rash (bullseye rash) – the recognisable rash is a clear indicator of Lyme disease, but around 30% of people suffering from the disease do not display the rash, and in many cases they are not aware that they have been bitten by a tick at all. Other rashes are relatively common, but can be confused with other types of insect bite or skin issue.

Blood tests are a common next step to identify pathogens within the bloodstream, but even in cases where the result comes out negative, this is not a definite suggestion to exclude the diagnosis. Frustratingly, in many cases where Lyme disease has later been diagnosed, earlier blood tests have come back as normal.

In some cases blood tests are taken to look for antibodies fighting the infection – these can also not always give an accurate answer as some people carry the antibodies even if they have not been bitten.

A more complicated type of blood test called an ELISA is the best way to try and diagnose the disease. An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay is a test that can establish clearly as to whether you have certain antibodies related to certain infectious conditions including Lyme Disease, but also syphilis, toxoplasmosis, chicken-pox, shingles and even HIV. The test involves taking blood from the patient and adding it to a petri dish containing the suspected antigen and watching how it reacts. As some people already carry the antibodies, this test can be backed up with a Western Blot test which checks for the presence of antibodies specific to the Borrelia Burgdorferi bacteria proteins. These tests should not only be carried out once – even if the results come back negative it is sometimes worthwhile re-testing after a few weeks unless another clear diagnosis has been made.

When these two tests are carried out together, they give the truest diagnosis of whether or not a patient is suffering from Lyme disease, but these tests ore often only carried out if the doctor or medical team is suitably concerned that it might be Lyme disease, having discounted other potential conditions.

Contact us today for free, no obligation advice regarding your Lyme Disease claim – either by calling us free on 0800 999 1374, or by requesting a free call back, whereby one of our team will contact you at a time of your choosing to discuss your situation. When you contact us you are under no obligation to continue with the case unless you wish to do so.

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