Caister Academic Press

Lyme Disease Diagnostics

Michael R. Mosel, John Aucott, Steve E. Schutzer, Adriana Marques, Paul M. Arnaboldi, Raymond Dattwyler and Mark W. Eshoo
from: Lyme Disease and Relapsing Fever Spirochetes: Genomics, Molecular Biology, Host Interactions and Disease Pathogenesis (Edited by: Justin D. Radolf and D. Scott Samuels). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2021) Pages: 665-684.

Abstract

Lyme disease, which is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato infection from a tick bite, is growing with more than 300,000 estimated cases each year in the US alone. If diagnosed and treated early, antibiotics are most effective at eradicating infection and preventing sequelae. However, early diagnosis can be challenging in many instances. This chapter describes challenges regarding the clinical diagnosis of early Lyme disease and focuses on the current and future methodologies for detecting the presence of B. burgdorferi in clinical specimens. Both direct and indirect methods for pathogen detection are presented with regard to early and later-stage Lyme disease. In addition, potential alternative and evolving diagnostic methods such as detection of human host response and xenodiagnosis are discussed read more ...
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