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Free Webinar! Is it Lyme Disease, or TBRF?

Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever (TBRF) is often considered a Lyme disease imitator because both TBRF and Lyme sufferers display many similar symptoms. Moreover, some of the Borrelia that cause TBRF are transmitted by the same ticks that transmit Lyme Borreliae, the causative agents of Lyme disease. Therefore, it is important for physicians to test for both TBRF and Lyme disease.

In this webinar:
Join world-renowned tick-borne disease specialist Dr. Joseph Burrascano as he discusses the emergence of TBRF, and the latest advancements in testing for this disease.

• Understand the importance of differentiating between Lyme Borrelia and TBRF Borrelia
• Find out more about the spread of B. miyamotoi
• Learn about the new Broad Coverage TBRF Assays and the industry-leading TBRF MultiSpecies ImmunoBlots (now approved in New York!)
• Why an ImmunoBlot is superior to a western blot?
• Dr. Jyotsna Shah joins the discussion for the Q&A

Details
Is it Lyme Disease, or TBRF?
Wednesday, January 15th, 2020
8PM EST / 5PM PST
Duration: 1 hour

Panelists
Dr. Joseph Burrascano M.D. – World-renowned infectious disease specialist
Dr. Jyotsna Shah – President & Laboratory Director of IGeneX, Inc.

Register
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5e71wcuuQLa0sKFG7C7SJA

Who should attend?
The webinar is open to all. Many doctors, including general practitioners, infectious disease specialists, pediatricians and psychiatrists can benefit from knowing the differences between Lyme disease and TBRF, as well as understanding the ever-growing number of species and strains of TBRF Borrelia carried by hard and soft ticks, including B. hermsii, B. miyamotoi, and B. turicatae.

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?

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

Scientific paper published on new Lyme disease test

IGeneX is excited to announce to release of a scientific paper on a new test for a Lyme-like illness. We issued the following press release this morning.

New Form of Lyme Disease Detected by State-of-the-Art Test
IGeneX Laboratory Publishes Results of Novel Line Immunoblot Testing for Tick-borne Relapsing Fever

A novel test for a new form of Lyme disease was described in a report published in the prestigious medical journal Healthcare (Basel) (https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/7/4/121/pdf). The new test detects exposure to tick-borne relapsing fever, a Lyme-related disease transmitted by ticks that is spreading worldwide.

Lyme disease is a tick-borne infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, a type of corkscrew-shaped bacteria known as a spirochete (pronounced spiro’keet). Recently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that Lyme disease is much more common than previously thought, with over 400,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States. That makes annual new cases of Lyme disease in this country about four times more common than new cases of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and syphilis combined.

Recently another form of tick-borne disease caused by relapsing fever Borrelia has been recognized in the United States and internationally. Until now there has been no reliable test for exposure to this family of Borrelia spirochetes. The new study describes a sensitive and specific test called a line immunoblot developed by IGeneX Laboratory that detects antibodies against relapsing fever Borrelia. IGeneX had previously developed a line immunoblot test for exposure to Lyme spirochetes related to Borrelia burgdorferi (https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/6/3/99).

The current study was a collaborative effort by an international team of scientists. Researchers included Jyotsna S. Shah, Song Liu, Iris Du Cruz, Akhila Poruri and Ranjan Ramasamy from IGeneX Laboratory in Milpitas, CA; clinicians Мariia Shkilna, Mykhaylo Korda, Ivan Klishch, Stepan Zaporozhan, Kateryna Shtokailo and Mykhaylо Andreychyn from Ternopil National Medical University in Ukraine; biochemist Rajan Maynard from Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; and internist Raphael Stricker from Union Square Medical Associates in San Francisco, CA.

“Our findings demonstrate the complexity of Lyme disease,” said Dr. Shah, the lead author of the study who is President and Laboratory Director of IGeneX. “The new test shows exposure to another form of the disease that cannot be detected with currently available Lyme testing.”

In the study, the line immunoblot test was used to detect antibodies against relapsing fever Borrelia in well-characterized serum samples from patients in Australia, Ukraine and the United States. The novel test showed high sensitivity for these antibodies, and there were very few false-positive results.

“Line immunoblot testing offers a reliable method to detect exposure to relapsing fever Borrelia,” said Dr. Shkilna, who treats Lyme disease in Ukraine. “The test can demonstrate exposure in individual patients and help us understand the global spread of tick-borne relapsing fever.”

Dr. Stricker pointed to the implications of the new test for Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment. “Lyme disease is not a simple infection anymore,” he said. “We need to pay attention to new forms of the disease, and the line immunoblot test is a good start.”

Don’t miss ILADS 2019 in Boston

Registration is open for the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) 20th Annual Conference. This year’s conference will be held on October 31-November 3, 2019, at the Westin Copley Place in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.

ILADS conferences bring the latest in evidence-based scientific advances to inform best practices in the clinical care of patients with Lyme disease and related infections. With Lyme and related diseases to compare and contrast with persistent infection across a spectrum of human disease, we will learn how persistent infections and host responses interact to cause chronic disease.

Go here to register.

Does Your Child Have Lyme Disease?

Get the answer with the IgXSpot test from IGeneX.

The IgXSpot test from IGeneX can detect Lyme disease in its early stages, before an antibody response develops and before symptoms appear. The test works by measuring T-cell activity from a patient blood sample when stimulated with specific antigens purified from the pathogens. This test catches the disease at the stage that it can be treated most effectively with antibiotics, and when standard antibody tests are not reliable.

Read the datasheet here.

Visit IGeneX at IMMH 2019 in San Diego

IGeneX will be presenting at the IHHM (Integrative Medicine for Mental Health) Conference in San Diego, CA from August 15 – 18. Come visit us!

IHHM 2019 will give practitioners a holistic approach to successfully diagnose and treat underlying issues contributing to the manifestations of neurological, behavioral, and psychiatric disorders. Research has revealed that many disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, OCD, eating disorders, and autism spectrum disorders often have biomedical causes that contribute to symptoms, from nutritional deficiencies to chronic infections. Patients have better outcomes when these causes are addressed and treated through a combination of specialized testing and nutritional therapies, even in combination with traditional approaches. This year’s conference will have more new speakers and new topics than ever before!

Learn more about the conference here.