Lyme Disease Test Kit
Written by Dr. Diane Mueller
There are a wide variety of Lyme Disease Test Kits available. Using a specialty lab that focuses on the development of accurate testing and results is essential for Lyme Disease Testing. There are a lot of problems with the tests that are run at standard facilities for Lyme Disease. To read about these sorts of problems, see our blog called: Lyme Disease Test.
Most Lyme Disease Tests kits will require a blood or urine sample. If it is a blood sample, you will need to go to a local specialty draw lab for the blood draw. An example of a well-known specialty draw lab is called any lab test now. Lyme Disease tests kits are sent out by testing companies that spend a lot of time doing research and development for Lyme Disease. Since they are third party testing companies, the blood draw cannot typically be performed by companies such as lab corp or quest.
Have Lyme Disease or suspect you do?
Companies you can consider for Lyme Disease Test Kits include:
- Vibrant Wellness
- IgeneX
- DNA Connexions
- Galaxy Labs
There are other lab tests for Lyme Disease out there, but these are the most common ones. Many of these need to be ordered through a health care provider. We recommend working with a Lyme Literate Doctor.
Our favorite company is vibrant wellness. This is because they are the most thorough offering a variety of testing mechanisms including western blot, PCR and antibody. In addition, they test for the widest variety of species of Borrelia (the bacteria that causes Lyme) as well as bartonella, babesia, anaplasma and ehrlichia for their 1.0 test. The Lyme Disease Test kit that is the 2.0 from Vibrant adds on a ton more coinfections (infections transmitted at the time of insect bite). It adds on Powassan, Ricketssia, west nile, coxsackie, EBV, CMV, Strept, mycoplasma, HHV6, HSV, parvovirus, toxoplasma and chlamydia. Vibrant wellness also offers a blood spot option where people can do a finger prick to get a drop of blood instead of having to go to a blood draw site. This allows for easy testing that does not require going to a blood draw site. The finger prick version of these tests does not do the PCR test mechanism. The PCR test mechanism is where we are looking for the DNA of the microbes. It is nice to have and is a great check and balance for the other testing mechanisms, but enough information can be gathered in most cases without it so it is a great option for those that have issues with getting to a blood draw center.
IgeneX is another company that you can order a Lyme disease test kit from. This company you can order a kit as a consumer without going through a doctor. You can order a kit that needs a blood sample or a urine sample. The urine sample is really only for acute Lyme. If you suspect chronic Lyme, a blood test is the way you will want to go. IgeneX offers testing for Borrelia (Lyme), Babesia, Bartonella, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, and Rickettsia.
DNA connexions is a PCR related test that is done through a urine collection. Often times, getting a massage or going for a walk prior to urine collection helps to elicit a positive result as these types of activities get the circulation moving and allow for Lyme DNA to end up in the blood and then the urine. This company test for Borrelia recurrentis, Borrelia miyamotoi, Babesia microti, Babesia divergens, Babesia duncani, Bartonella bacilliformis, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Bartonella henselae, Bartonella quintana, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum.
Galaxy Diagnostics tests for Borrelia (Lyme), Babesia, Bartonella, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, and Rickettsia. Galaxy labs has a different testing mechanism using nanotrap technology. The purpose of this technology is to trap Lyme Antigens at higher concentration in the urine sample, thus reducing the possibilities of a false negative. They recommend using a combination of nanotrap testing with the more traditional Elisa and western blot mechanisms in order to reduce the rates of false negatives. This particular sample is done with urine so it is easy to do from home.
In general, we recommend using a company that combines a combination of testing techniques to reduce the potential of false negatives. We feel that Vibrant Wellness does the most thorough job of combining technology as well as testing for the widest variety of microorganisms that can be transmitted with tick bites. While the most thorough version of their test requires a blood draw, they do offer the blood spot test (as mentioned), which requires only a finger stick of blood and can be done in the comfort of one’s home. This allows for the company to not only offer the most thorough testing on the market, but the ease of collection without going to a draw site.
For more information on the topic of Lyme Disease Test Kit, see our other blog:
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