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At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis

#91

Post by miek »

beej71 wrote: post #24
jensensbutton wrote: post #3

As a parent in the US northeast who likes taking their kids camping and hiking, ticks have been an ongoing conversation this year. I think this is going to sell well.

When I think about moving to the NE from out west, ticks are one of my main reservations. I think, given how many people and dogs recreate out there, I might have it blown out of proportion.

I live in the NE and just picked up Lyme for the second time in 3 years. My child and several friends have had it in the past few years. The problem is that some tick species are unbelievably small and easy to miss. With winters not being as cold, they don't die off as much as they traditionally would. I'd hate to move, but if we keep getting infected, it's not out of the question.

Re: At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis

#92

Post by giardini »

stevage wrote: post #72
giardini wrote: post #71

Why test ticks for Lyme Disease? Make a cheap, accurate test for Lyme disease in humans ! Jeez! Chasing ticks, c'mon, really, my f*ing intelligence is insulted by the suggestion.

I think so that you can take antibiotics early and prevent actually getting Lyme disease.

But honestly what are the odds that you would find and successfuly test the very tick that infects you with Lyme disease? Gotta be pretty slim!

Re: At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis

#93

Post by bad_username »

ryandrake wrote: post #85
algoth1 wrote: post #69

There are MANY facebook groups filled with people fully convinced that they have Lyme disease. These groups teach that virtually any and every symptom is caused by the infection and that basically everyone has it. As if this wasn’t insane enough, the people in the group will push each other to go on antibiotics - via so called lyme literate doctors - until they are on the verge of death due to the side effects. Worse…

We are quickly entering a medical dark age due to the conspiracy theorists, “Do Your Own Research-ers,” YouTube influencers, and other kinds of Internet-borne DIY self diagnosis.

What didn't help was the response to the pandemic by governments and the scientific establishment, that supplied an unfortunate and pretty devastating blow to public trust in these institutions.

Re: At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis

#95

Post by don_esteban »

lima wrote: post #25

Unfortunately, there are major issues with this approach. The vendor claims "lab-level accuracy" (conveniently omitting the actual accuracy numbers), but the test is a lateral flow test, which means its Limit of Detection is going to be orders of magnitude worse than molecular tests. Tick tests do not require FDA clearance, so their claims are most likely unreviewed. Existing lab tests for ticks are almost universall…

Yeah, I would be vary of accuracy of such tests.

The infected unfed ticks have few spirochetes in them. The numbers grow by two orders of magnitude as they feed - the reason why old bites are much more dangerous than the fresh bites.

Re: At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis

#96

Post by stevage »

giardini wrote: post #92
stevage wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think so that you can take antibiotics early and prevent actually getting Lyme disease.

But honestly what are the odds that you would find and successfuly test the very tick that infects you with Lyme disease? Gotta be pretty slim!

If there are areas where the chance of getting Lyme per bite is 10% then...about that?

Re: At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis

#97

Post by [deleted] »

balderdash wrote: post #80
dofm wrote: post #2

Wow, this seems a pretty big deal. Here in the UK, Lyme traditionally been a marginal problem (tick bites aren't) but we now have such rapid climate change, along with rapidly increasing wild deer and boar populations, that some areas in the UK are becoming risk zones on more or less the same level of risk as some US regions. Alas the difference here is that education has not caught up to the USA: very few people hav…

One thing pointing out is that deer aren’t really the disease reservoir for Lyme disease (it’s primarily mice) - but deer are key for tick population growth.

[deleted]

Re: At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis

#98

Post by nephihaha »

dofm wrote: post #2

Wow, this seems a pretty big deal. Here in the UK, Lyme traditionally been a marginal problem (tick bites aren't) but we now have such rapid climate change, along with rapidly increasing wild deer and boar populations, that some areas in the UK are becoming risk zones on more or less the same level of risk as some US regions. Alas the difference here is that education has not caught up to the USA: very few people hav…

Ticks are much more common in Scotland thanks to deer population and high rainfall. Ticks prefer damp conditions to drought conditions, so this last summer wouldn't have been good for them. The damp makes it easier to survive while they are waiting for passing hosts. They also like long grass and overgrown areas.

England in comparison is much more built up.

We do have Lyme disease here unfortunately. I know someone who has it.

Re: At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis

#99

Post by nephihaha »

dofm wrote: post #64
throw93949990 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Publicly founded health systems are terrible whe. dealing with Lyme disease. It is impossible to simply and clearly diagnose, and separate ill people from "simulants". Something like "back pain" ormother chronic illnesses.

Nothing really to do with public healthcare. It is literally that there is almost no medical or social experience in the UK of actually seeing developed Lyme disease up close, because it has historically been so unusual, so there are no protocols. A few thousand cases every year now, when the first indigenous case ever properly recorded in the UK was only in 1986, and it's not like in the USA where really wide areas…

1986 is forty years ago. We have Lymes disease in Scotland (I know someone who has it), and a large deer population which has not been properly controlled with substantial remote areas. (Much smaller than the USA but big enough to be reservoirs for the disease.)

Re: At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis

#100

Post by lima »

tito wrote: post #89
lima wrote: post #25

Unfortunately, there are major issues with this approach. The vendor claims "lab-level accuracy" (conveniently omitting the actual accuracy numbers), but the test is a lateral flow test, which means its Limit of Detection is going to be orders of magnitude worse than molecular tests. Tick tests do not require FDA clearance, so their claims are most likely unreviewed. Existing lab tests for ticks are almost universall…

It's been 15 years since I worked on open source PCR machines, but has someone not figured out how to build a "one time use" disposable type qPCR test? A single test, not an instrument. There's no way these types of tests should be left up to lateral flow etc.

Lucira did that, but IMO it's quite wasteful. LAMP reactions don't need much, so it's best to make a cheap reader like Metrix or Pluslife so the tests can be less expensive.
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