Month: November 2019

New Lyme and TBRF Tests Now Available

IGeneX is excited to announce the availability of the new Broad Coverage Ab Assays for Lyme disease and Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever (TBRF). The Lyme Broad Coverage Ab Assay is a qualitative test designed to detect IgM/IgG antibodies to Lyme Borreliae group-specific antigens in human serum. The TBRF Broad Coverage Ab Assay is a qualitative test designed to detect IgM/IgG antibodies to TBRF Borreliae group-specific antigens in human serum.

The BCA Assay is a simple and cost-effective test, which gives either a positive or negative result. A positive test suggests exposure to the Lyme Borreliae group or the TBRF Borreliae group, and should be used in conjunction with patient clinical symptoms and history. For specific protein or band information, an ImmunoBlot IgM or IgG test should be ordered to provide more information and possible speciation of the Borrelia.

Advantages of the Broad Coverage Ab Assay

• Far broader and more inclusive of Borrelia species than standard serologies
• Detects antibodies to Borrelia species from North American, European and Australian strains
• Better than two-tier ELISA/WB and two-tier ELISA
• Provides a simple, cost-effective, yes/no result with no complicated interpretation necessary

Performance Characteristics
The sensitivity of the Lyme BCA Assay is 90%, and the specificity is 97%; and for the TBRF BCA Assay, the sensitivity is 90% and the specificity is 98% as compared to Lyme and TBRF ImmunoBlots respectively.

How Does the New Lyme Disease Test Compare to Other Lyme Disease Tests from IGeneX?

NEW! BROAD COVERAGE LYME AB ASSAY	WESTERN BLOT	IMMUNOBLOT
Far broader and more inclusive of Lyme Borreliae species than standard serologies Better than two-tier ELISA/WB and two-tier ELISA Provides a simple, cost-effective, yes/no result with no complicated interpretation necessary	A relatively inexpensive method to detect Lyme Borreliae-specific antibodies and to monitor stage of disease Specific, which means that most of the time it will be positive only if a person has been truly infected Still the best western blot on the market, made with two strains of Bb	Improved sensitivity because it includes Lyme Borreliae-specific antigens from multiple strains and species Improved specificity because pure proteins are sprayed at specific positions on the blot Superior at all stages of Lyme disease
PRICE: $195 TEST NUMBER: 601 CPT CODE: 0042U	PRICE: $250 TEST NUMBER: 188, 189 CPT CODE: 86617	PRICE: $450 TEST NUMBER: 325, 335 CPT CODE: 86617

Go here to download the datasheet on the Broad Coverage Ab Assays. Please see the price list for availability of panel discounts.