title: [Diagnostics of Lyme disease].
abstract: Although many years have passed since Borrelia burgdorferi was first identified, advances in understanding biology and clinical course of infection made and new diagnostic procedures developed, Lyme disease is still difficult to diagnose. Therefore, it is often wrongly diagnosed and unnecessarily treated. In this paper we analyzed the latest data on Lyme disease diagnostic methods, paying much attention to their limitations and correct interpretation of results. In routine diagnosis of this diseases, indirect tests, based on the detection of specific IgM and IgG antibodies, are most useful. The Lyme disease diagnosis should begin with screening tests, which are highly sensitive but not specific enough and sometimes yield false positive results, then all positive results should be verified by confirmation tests, which allow to distinguish between true positive results and healthy individuals with false positive ones.
authors.affiliation: Katedra i Klinika Chorób Zakaźnych, Chorób Watroby i Nabytych Niedoborów Odpornościowych Akademia Medyczna, Wrocław. jacekgasiorowski@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gasiorowski
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Witecka-Knysz
authors.forename: Brygida
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Knysz
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gładysz
mesh_terms: D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D020852:Lyme Neuroborreliosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M