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New Lyme disease test doubly accurate
July 4, 1997
Web posted at: 11:37 p.m. EDT (0337 GMT)From Medical Correspondent Dan Rutz
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The earlier Lyme disease and other
tick-borne illnesses are diagnosed, the easier they are to treat effectively -- and a new test for Lyme disease should help.It is believed to be about 90 percent accurate.
The current standard test for Lyme disease is not terribly reliable. It is accurate less than half the time, and, when someone comes forward with symptoms, doctors often must rely on guesswork.
"The patient comes in with fever, a history of tick exposure and a rash," says Dr. Steven Goldfarb of Southampton Regional Hospital in New York. "The object is to pick a treatment that you think covers the most bases."
"The outcome may be unnecessary treatment," says Dr. Stephen Sigler, also of Southampton, on the eastern tip of Long Island that is ground zero for Lyme disease. "Antibiotics are given for weeks and weeks on the basis of a positive, nonspecific, unreliable test."
For one of Goldfarb's recent patients, using the newer test meant that Lyme disease could be ruled out early, leading to the diagnosis of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, another
tick-borne illness.Goldfarb said that a more accurate diagnosis put the woman in good stead, because the initial treatment for Lyme disease -- a penicillin derivative -- wouldn't have treated her different, more serious affliction.
Related stories:
- Health experts brace for Lyme disease season - June 20, 1997
- Lyme disease: Take precautions, then relax - May 9, 1996
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