Blood tests can be used to detect antibodies related to the initial Lyme infection, even if the bacteria are now dormant. Not foolproof as for various complicated reasons, tests can give false negatives in some cases (indicate no infection, when in fact there has been).
Yes that is what I meant.
Am I right in saying that it can't provide a false positive?
If the test says you have it, you do. But if it says you do not have it, it could be a false negative? (albeit a small percentage?)
Am I right in saying that it can't provide a false positive?
If the test says you have it, you do. But if it says you do not have it, it could be a false negative? (albeit a small percentage?)
I think it could be up to 30% that gives a false negative (and a tiny proportion of false positives, but 6/7 years since I last looked at this stuff). My own test was only just positive. It depends on lots of things such as the strain of Lyme they will test for (and whether they're talking about IgM or IgG antibodies).
If you had a choice, you'd go for a more well-understood and accepted disease!
Comments
Yes that is what I meant.
Am I right in saying that it can't provide a false positive?
If the test says you have it, you do. But if it says you do not have it, it could be a false negative? (albeit a small percentage?)
I think it could be up to 30% that gives a false negative (and a tiny proportion of false positives, but 6/7 years since I last looked at this stuff). My own test was only just positive. It depends on lots of things such as the strain of Lyme they will test for (and whether they're talking about IgM or IgG antibodies).
If you had a choice, you'd go for a more well-understood and accepted disease!