Tick \u200b\u200btest for borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis. How long does it take to test a tick

They are not at all harmless to humans. The fact is that these arachnids are carriers of many dangerous infectious diseases. Among them are tick-borne encephalitis, borreliosis and many others. etc. Therefore, after a tick attack, it is imperative to understand whether the parasite is infected with any virus? How do you know about this? An excellent option is to take a blood test. It will not be superfluous to take the tick itself for examination to specialists. This is the only way to determine whether infection occurred after contact with a bloodsucker.

What tests should I take if I am bitten by a tick?

After a tick bite, you can not hesitate. Of course, it doesn't count for minutes or hours. But it is not worth delaying the visit to a medical facility (especially since many hospitals conduct round-the-clock reception of those persons who can potentially be infected with borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis, etc.). The fact is that within the first five days, symptoms of the disease may appear, and after 7-10 days (if the body is weakened), complications may begin.

It is important to remember that it makes no sense to take a blood test right after an arthropod bite. This is explained by the fact that the result of such a study will be unreliable. Indeed, in the human body, as a response to the virus, specific antibodies (antiviral proteins-immunoglobulins) should be formed, which the analysis reveals. And this takes time - up to 10 days, or even more. Therefore, many doctors recommend doing a blood test for tick-borne infections only 11-14 days after the bite.

It is much more effective in this situation to bring and hand over the tick itself for research. In this case, already literally on the first day, it will be possible to determine whether he was infected with some kind of dangerous infection and whether there is a risk to human life and health.

As for the tests themselves, a wide range of laboratory tests are used to determine hidden ones. The specific diagnostic method is chosen by the doctor himself, taking into account:

• the age of the patient;
• the state of his immune system;
• whether vaccination has been carried out;
• the time that has passed since the bite;
• whether the subject took antibiotics and other drugs.

The diagnosis result for most infectious diseases transmitted to humans through a tick bite is usually given 3-5 days after blood sampling. If it is positive, then after 2-4 weeks the analysis is repeated.

In some cities that do not have frequent cases of infection with borreliosis or tick-borne encephalitis, it is impossible to donate blood after a tick bite for these infections. In this case, you may need a trip to a neighboring settlement or an appeal to a private clinic. Sometimes specialists of the Sanitary Epidemiological Station (SES) can also come to the rescue.

How much does a tick-borne infection test cost?

What is the average cost of blood tests for tick-borne infections? Approximately 400-600 rubles in commercial organizations. At the same time, for this amount, you will be analyzed for the presence of one type of pathogens of the virus - for example, for encephalitis or borreliosis. Accordingly, the cost of a comprehensive study can cost 1000–2000 rubles. In government agencies, tariffs are usually lower by about 30-40%.

Where can the tick be taken?

Usually, specialized private and public institutions are engaged in the analysis of this type of disease spread. They are found in most settlements - cities, villages, urban-type settlements, etc. But in some territories there may not be such laboratories. So we recommend that you find out in advance in which organization in your place of residence it is possible to hand over a bitten insect for further research.

Basically, such institutions (where it makes sense to carry a tick) include:

1. Private clinics;
2. State medical institutions - emergency room, hospital, clinic, etc. Usually in such institutions there is a laboratory room that allows you to examine the tick to identify infectious agents that it can transmit to humans.

At the same time, when you decide to take a tick for research, do not forget to take money with you. The fact is that this service is mainly provided for a fee. How much does it take to determine whether an arthropod is infected or not?

The cost of analyzing a tick for the presence of a causative agent of a particular disease in state medical institutions of the Russian Federation is approximately the same. As a rule, it is enough to pay 500-600 rubles to conduct a study of an arthropod for borreliosis or encephalitis. In private medical centers and laboratories, checking a tick for viruses in it will cost about twice as much. For example, the network of laboratories "Gemotest", which is popular today in Russia, estimates a comprehensive study of a tick at 2050 rubles, and it takes 2 days. At the same time, in such establishments, you can order an express analysis, which will be ready in a few hours.

How to store and transport the tick for analysis?

We have already clarified many important points. Although some questions still remain. They concern how to "deal" with the tick - how to properly preserve it and what is the best way to move it?

The first peak of tick activity begins in April and lasts until mid-June. Several hundred patients visit doctors of various profiles every year for bites. Usually, 10-14 days after the incident, experts recommend taking tests to the laboratory.

Why get tested?

Ixodid ticks spread at least two socially significant pathologies. This is the well-known tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease (borreliosis). Diseases are by no means harmless, as it might seem at first glance. In some cases, infection of the body with borrelia causes very severe long-term consequences. Signs of damage to the heart, joints, and nervous system develop. Only with a thorough investigation can they be associated with the once transferred Lyme disease. This is why it is recommended to have a blood test after a tick bite.

With late treatment started, the percentage of transition to a chronic course can reach 50%. Timely laboratory testing and appropriate therapy ensure a favorable outcome for these and other serious bacterial diseases transmitted by ticks.

What tests should I take?

Basically, with a tick bite, a blood test for tick-borne infections is carried out by serological methods:

• Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Determines the presence in the body of specific antibodies to the virus. There are two classes of antibodies: IgG and IgM. They are specific antiviral proteins, immunoglobulins, which are produced by the immune system in response to virus infection. These proteins indicate an ongoing or past infection process, and also indicate the success of vaccination.

A week after the first symptoms, class G immunoglobulins are recorded. In the blood, they reach their maximum in 1.5-2.5 months from the moment of the bite and persist throughout life. This ensures strong immunity.

Detection of antibodies of the IgM class is possible 10 days after the tick bite. Class M immunoglobulins are diagnosed at the first symptoms of the disease. 3.4-4.5 weeks after infection, their value will be very high, but within a few months it will decrease.

The enzyme immunoassay is very accurate and allows you to determine the pathology at an early stage, but in order to exclude a false result, a Western blot is sometimes used.

• Western blot.

Confirmatory final analysis for borreliosis and encephalitis in the list of immunological studies. The test is required after detecting positive IgG antibodies. The material, as in ELISA, is venous blood.

• Immunofluorescence analysis.

The most accessible and cheapest method for use by a wide range of medical institutions, which makes it possible to detect antibodies to known antigens. Examine blood serum, cerebrospinal fluid, intraarticular fluid. Specific antibodies are registered as fluorescein-labeled complexes containing antigen, specific antibody, and serum against human globulins.

When pathogens are present in the material, they glow like fireflies when viewed through a fluorescent microscope. The test loses to ELISA in terms of sensitivity and objectivity of results, but wins in specificity.

• PCR.

A sensitive method of polymerase chain reaction, which indicates the presence of foreign DNA or RNA molecules in biomaterial: tick, blood, skin biopath, urine. For additional diagnostics, cerebrospinal and articular fluid is also used.
PCR makes it possible to determine the pathogen to the genospecies, to identify cases of secondary infection with borreliosis. The results will be more reliable when using multiple PCR systems.

Among all the tests that need to be passed after a tick bite, PCR analysis to detect tick-borne encephalitis is impractical to use, since in the lgM-positive phase it will give a negative result in many cases. The combination of the first two tests is sufficient for serological examination of tick-borne infections.

When to donate blood after a tick bite?

If bitten by a tick, it is necessary to take blood tests for a PCR study no earlier than 10 days later. For antibodies (lgM) to the tick-borne encephalitis virus two weeks after the bite, for antibodies (lgM) to borrelia - three weeks later.

To determine hidden infections after a tick bite, it is recommended to take tests twice. The first examination depends on how many days have passed after the bite, and the second is carried out a month after the first test. The first and second analyzes use the same method. The second analysis is done only if the previous one was negative.

Due to the variety of clinical signs of disease transmitted to ticks, a wide range of laboratory tests are used. The diagnostic value depends on the characteristics of the analysis itself, on the pathological stage and on preliminary antibiotic therapy. What tests to pass if bitten by a tick is decided by the doctor. He also makes a decision about how long it will take to re-examine if necessary.

"I carried the tick on me all day, hoping that it will be examined."

Ticks carry terrible diseases from which you can die or be disabled.

From early spring to late autumn, doctors warn us about this and tell the media, explaining what to do with a bite. Carefully turn the tick out so as not to damage the head, take it for analysis and consult an infectious disease doctor.

Simple directions, but very difficult to follow in practice.

After conducting field research, MK found that, while convincing citizens of the dangers of tick bites, health care itself is quite unconcerned about them.

Two or three weeks ago, the whites went to the Moscow region, and my friends, residents of Kolomna, went to pick mushrooms.

They were dressed as one should dress in the forest. But still they came back with ticks. The next day, the wife removed one tick from her husband, and the husband removed one from his wife. The next morning, a third appeared, which was also pulled out.

“The tick was small, but thick and wiggled its paws in displeasure,” said the victims. - We decided to take it for analysis, as the medical websites call for.

Methodically and consistently, we called all possible instances - the emergency room, SES, Rospotrebnadzor. They did not want to see a tick in any.

The proposal to subject the tick to analyzes put the interlocutors into a stupor. They seem to have barely kept the question to themselves: are you out of your mind at all? What the hell is a tick? "

The tick was put in a box and put in the refrigerator. He is still there - and unclaimed by Russian health care and epidemiological surveillance.

Its owners visited an infectious disease doctor and received instructions: to come in two weeks to have a blood test, and before that - to observe the bite site.

“We have the largest city in the Moscow region, and there is only one (!) Infectious disease doctor per city and district. And this despite the fact that we have borreliosis here in tangible quantities: 1 case per 10 bitten. And the bitten - the sea. The doctor said, "You have no idea how much."

Borreliosis is the most common disease in the Moscow region that is spread by ticks. It is also called Lyme disease. Can be treated with antibiotics but must be treated immediately. If you run it, the infection will take root and after a few years it will creep out, for example, arthritis with excruciating pain or some other serious muck.

At first, borreliosis looks like a common cold. An indisposition of an obscure nature. Fatigue, lethargy, headache, back aches, chills. This state does not begin immediately after the bite, but after a while, when the patient himself has already forgotten about the tick, and his doctor is even more unaware of it. Happiness if he guesses to send the patient to take a blood test for borreliosis. But this rarely occurs to anyone.

Borreliosis is not the only disease that can be obtained from a tick. There are seven such diseases. Including granulocytic anaplasmosis, tularemia and - the worst thing - encephalitis. They die or become crippled from it.

If, after a bite of an encephalitis tick, the victim is given seroprophylaxis - injecting human immunoglobulin - he can be saved. But it must be done within four days. Then it won't help.

The ambush is that a blood test shows encephalitis after at least two weeks - just like borreliosis. But if you analyze not the blood of the victim, but the tick itself that bit him, it turns out faster. The results will be known in three days.

Impressed by the history of the inhabitants of Kolomna, I called several emergency aid stations near Moscow, asking one question: "Where can I take a tick for analysis?"

As a result, it became clear that the removed tick can be transported to Moscow - to the FBUZ "Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the City of Moscow" in Grafsky Lane, or to Mytishchi - to the same center, but in the Moscow region.

You need to bring it in a jar. You don't have to be alive. The main thing is not to dry out, so put a damp cotton swab in the jar.

The analysis is done for four infections - encephalitis, borreliosis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis.

In the Moscow center you have to pay 1640 rubles for it, in the Moscow region it is cheaper - 1055 rubles.

How does this commercial approach to ticks fit in with the free medical care that we supposedly should get from public health facilities? With this question, I turned to the Ministry of Health of the Moscow Region.

They explained to me that free medical assistance in the form of a tick analysis is provided only if you come to the emergency room with a tick on your body and a doctor takes it out of you.

Then the tick will be sent for analysis free of charge for you and, which is also important, without your participation. That is, you are not going to Moscow or Mytishchi with a jar and a damp cotton swab, but a courier, since each clinic in the Moscow region, in accordance with the order of the Minister of Health, must have an agreement with the laboratory - either in Mytishchi or in Grafsky Lane.

If a tick is seized by a citizen on his own, it is not subject to free analysis - the rules approved in our country were explained in the press service of the regional health ministry. Because you never know whose it is a tick.

Maybe you didn't take it off yourself, but from someone else. From a friend, for example. Or from a dog. Or he didn't bite anyone at all, walked peacefully, and you caught him - and in the bank. And well, now the state has to spend money on it? To squander folk remedies on ownerless ticks?

While I was pondering what funny idiots the health officials see as citizens - after all, they are looking for ticks somewhere, catching them with their bare hands, and then dragging them for analysis without any benefit for themselves, just to defeat the state, the beast came running to the catcher.

I myself was bitten by a tick.

On Saturday, September 2, we went to pick mushrooms, on Sunday morning I saw a bulging black dot on my leg. The skin around her was swollen and reddened. It was not that painful, but uncomfortable.

I wanted to pull out the tick immediately. But I decided to follow the rules. I went from the dacha to Moscow, to the emergency room at the place of residence - in Strogino.

The queue was about three hours. Several people with fractures. Someone - for a dressing. Someone wanted to remove the beatings. Some, on the contrary, wanted to fight, although they were already beaten and covered in blood.

The tick and I stuck in the corner and felt like strangers at this celebration of life.

Where did you get bitten? the doctor asked first.

I pointed to my leg.

In which area? the doctor repeated with some irritation.

Realizing that he was interested, I confessed that in Voskresenskoye.

There is no endemic in Voskresenskoye, - said the doctor and looked at me with meaning.

I immediately realized that he would not send my tick for analysis. If there was an endemic in the Voskresensky district, he might have sent it. And so - no.

All day I carried the tick on myself, hoping that it would be examined. But in vain. Okay. Since hopes are not destined to come true, it's time to get rid of them.

Will you take him for analysis? the doctor asked. He didn’t insist. It was entirely my choice: to find out if my tick is infected with dangerous infections, or not to.

I decided to take it.

The doctor handed out a paper strip with the address of the same GBUZ "Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology" in Grafsky Lane. “The analysis is paid,” he muttered. "Last year it was worth five thousand."

The center is closed on weekends. On Monday I arrived at a quarter to four. Ticks, as it turned out, are only accepted until half past three.

Together with me two more people were late - they were bringing their ticks from some distant parts of the Moscow region. The three of us began to groan. They took pity on us.

The accountant returned to the workplace, accepted the money - 1643 rubles. for each tick. Having paid for the analysis, we carried the ticks through the window on the landing. There was still a small queue of those who were not late.

“There are a lot of ticks,” said the tired laboratory assistant. - Stream ".

The laboratory is located inside the complex of buildings of the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology. The path to it is marked with sheets pasted on the walls: "Ticks", "Ticks", "Acceptance of ticks - brown door", "No entry - ticks there!"

By the abundance of sheets, it is clear that people with ticks in jars here absolutely annoyed everyone.

The lab said they would call me on Wednesday if the tick is infected. But from Saturday to Wednesday - five days. If it is found that he is a carrier of encephalitis, it is still too late for emergency prevention.

According to the website of the capital's Rospotrebnadzor, over the past week, 1106 ticks were examined at the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of Moscow. Of these, with a positive result for tick-borne borreliosis - 184, for granulocytic anaplasmosis - 30.

Since the beginning of the season of tick activity, 11,112 people have turned to medical organizations in Moscow for bites.

There were 434 cases of tick-borne borreliosis.

This data is only for Moscow.

And here are the figures for the Moscow region.

As of September 1, 13,418 cases of tick sucking were registered. 5372 ticks were examined. In 11.1% of cases, the causative agents of borreliosis were identified, in 2.1% - anaplasmosis, in 0.3% - ehrlichiosis. The causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis was not found.

The Moscow ambulance website paints a less optimistic picture of encephalitis. “Currently, the disease with tick-borne encephalitis is recorded throughout Russia, and from those adjacent to the Moscow region - in the Tver and Yaroslavl regions. The territory of Moscow and the Moscow region (except for Taldomsky and Dmitrovsky districts) is free from encephalitis. "

Taldomsky and Dmitrovsky districts border on the Tver region. From there, infected ticks crawl towards us.

Since the beginning of the season, the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Tver Region has examined 2077 ticks taken from people. 343 ticks - carriers of infection were found. Of these, 13 "carried" encephalitis, 290 - borreliosis, 21 - ehrlichiosis, 19 - anaplasmosis. Also, 23 ticks were identified, infected with several infections at once.

Two people fell ill with tick-borne encephalitis in the Tver region this summer. 1406 people received emergency seroprophylaxis.

In regions recognized as endemic, it is allowed to be carried out by the bitten at the expense of the MHIF.

When encephalitis ticks crawl from the Tver region to the Moscow region - and this will surely happen sooner or later - it is also recognized as endemic, and then our doctors will also be allowed to carry out seroprophylaxis and take ticks for analysis free of charge. But for this it is necessary that at least fifteen to twenty people in our region get sick with encephalitis as a result of a tick bite.

The task of every sane inhabitant of Moscow and the Moscow region is not to be among them.

Official medicine warns of terrible diseases carried by ticks, and at the same time saves money on their emergency detection and prevention.

Citizens are disoriented because of this.

So should we be afraid of ticks and run around with them around doctors and laboratories?

Or is it not necessary, because our area is not endemic, but simply remove the tick on our own and forget?

Or is it better to stay overnight than not?

Or how?

I did everything possible to find out the correct answer. I even conducted an experiment on myself. But I never recognized him.

This is how clever our health care system is to fool people.

Tick-borne encephalitis can be transmitted by a person in a particularly severe form, which even leads to death. In the early stages, it is similar to other dangerous diseases, such as typhus, tick-borne borreliosis, etc. That is why it is important to make a diagnosis that will show the real cause of the symptoms that have appeared. In this article, we will figure out how and when to take a blood test for borreliosis.

Borreliosis and are observed in the same regions, arise after tick sucking in spring and summer, so they need to be differentiated. If an insect is found on the body, it is necessary to immediately analyze the biomaterial, and if the result is positive, in the next four days after the bite, take urgent measures by contacting a therapist or infectious disease specialist.

Features of borreliosis and encephalitis

Encephalitis and is carried by ticks on the territory of Russia. The data is often confused, although they differ dramatically. Tick-borne encephalitis is viral in nature, while borreliosis is bacterial. Both ailments affect the central nervous system, but Lyme disease also affects the joints, heart muscle, and skin. Encephalitis is characterized by an acute form, while borreliosis is characterized by a chronic course. As each disease develops, it receives pronounced differential symptoms. A blood test for encephalitis and borreliosis will help determine infection.

What is more common?

On the territory of Russia, every year from six to eight thousand new cases of borreliosis are recorded, and encephalitis is less common - five to six thousand diagnoses.

Tick-borne encephalitis is caused by a virus of the flavivirus family (a group of arboviruses), is transmitted by the bites of European forest and taiga ticks, although cases of infection through the gastrointestinal tract have also been recorded due to the consumption of raw milk from infected animals (sheep, cows, goats). As the virus develops, slow, but often irreversible changes occur in the vessels and membranes of the brain.

At first, the disease is not symptomatically expressed, but by the third week there is an increase in temperature, muscle and headaches, loss of appetite, nausea. A quarter of patients feel these signs even later, after a month. Over time, the pain becomes stronger, paralysis of the limbs, convulsions, loss of consciousness, disorientation, coma appear. If no help is available, a blood test may come along to help identify the disease in a timely manner.

There are several forms of tick-borne encephalitis, depending on different symptoms. The heaviest ones are recorded in the Far East, the light ones prevail in the central European part of Russia.

Is encephalitis treated?

It is possible to cure encephalitis, but this requires a large number of drugs and methods. In this case, there is no specific type of treatment that leads to recovery. Therapy is carried out exclusively in a hospital with the appointment of pathogenetic, etiotropic and symptomatic drugs. Medicines with anti-inflammatory, immunological, antiviral, hormonal, anticonvulsant, neuroprotective, psychotropic and other actions are also prescribed in a complex manner. After that, rehabilitation treatment is prescribed: this is physiotherapy exercises, psycho- and occupational therapy, speech therapy, etc. For several years, there may be seizures, symptoms of muscle atrophy, degradation of cognitive function and other disorders of the central nervous system. Sometimes the consequences can last for the rest of your life.

It should be noted that the most effective protection against encephalitis is a person's own antibodies, which the body produces after the introduction of the vaccine in the autumn, six months before the start of the dangerous season. Immunizations that promote rapid prevention are also commonly prescribed: three doses in twenty-one days, giving up to 97% protection.

And what about borreliosis?

A blood test for borreliosis is important, since there is no vaccine for the disease. In addition, a person does not develop a stable immunity to bacteria, he can get sick again.

Lyme disease occurs in humans after the bacterium borrelia enters the body. It is immediately attacked by the immune system and moves to where the immune system cannot cope - in the heart, nerve tissue, tendons. For this reason, unlike encephalitis, the acute stage is not observed, and the disease becomes protracted. The main distinguishing symptom is erythema annular migrans, which looks like a bright red spot at the site of the bite, gradually growing in size and forming a ring. The skin flakes off and necrosis appears. Allergic erythema may also appear on other parts of the body. In some forms of the disease, they may be absent altogether, but intoxication and fever appear, which makes borreliosis almost indistinguishable from encephalitis. A blood test for tick-borne borreliosis and encephalitis will help to differentiate the disease.

A month later, symptoms of central nervous system damage appear: partial paralysis of the limbs, speech disorders, mood swings. Meningitis may develop. If you do not take any action, arthritis, hearing loss, neuralgia, disorientation, and severe speech defects begin to progress after a year.

The carriers of the class of bacteria to which Borrelia belongs are the same ticks that carry encephalitis. The causative agent of Lyme disease lives in the digestive system of the tick, and not in its saliva, therefore it does not spread immediately in the human body. With the timely removal of the insect, there is a chance of not getting infected.

Borreliosis is treated, the main thing is to avoid the transition to the chronic stage. The patient is prescribed medications, the correct reception of which guarantees recovery.

Lyme disease is not spread from person to person, but there is a possibility of transmission from a pregnant woman to a fetus. That is why this disease is sometimes diagnosed in newborns.

A blood test for borreliosis, and even for encephalitis, can be taken in infectious diseases hospitals, commercial and virological laboratories. The main thing is that the clinic conducts parallel studies of both diseases.

Tests for encephalitis

A study of venous blood (taken from the cubital vein) and a tick removed from the body is carried out.

The following analysis methods exist:

• immunoassay - determines the presence of antibodies to the virus (two classes: IgG and IgM) in a person's blood, due to its high sensitivity, it makes it possible to see the disease in the early stages.
• PCR study of a tick, the task of which is to determine the presence of the DNA of the encephalitis virus in an insect. Fragments are also suitable for this type of analysis if it was not possible to pull out the entire tick. In the event of an insect infection, the patient is immediately injected with a special immunoglobulin that suppresses the development of the virus. This method saves about 60%. Routine vaccination provides stronger protection. But this does not mean at all that the patient should give up, since the most important thing is timely diagnosis and monitoring of his well-being.

Antibodies to the virus are produced only after 10-14 days, so there is no point in taking tests before this date. By the end of the month and for six months, the concentration peak is maintained. The insect must be brought immediately after removal, and if it is infected, the patient must be monitored by a doctor, and after two weeks be tested (it is worth noting that it does not require special preparation, you just need not to eat four hours before visiting the laboratory) ...

Decoding

The results of the analysis for IgG antibodies are issued in quantitative terms with the appearance in the decoding of the concept of "titer" - an indicator of the concentration of antibodies (for example, 1: 100, 1: 400, etc.). If more than 1: 100, then the immune system is reacting. If less, then this shows a lack of reaction, and when a virus penetrates, a person will definitely get sick. The indicator of a healthy body is from 200 to 400.

The results of a blood test are not of a qualitative nature: detected or not. If there is IgG in the blood and no IgM, these results most likely indicate vaccination. And the presence of both indicators indicates infection. Re-examination must be repeated a week later to establish an accurate diagnosis.

Blood test for borreliosis

Borrelia is difficult to see, so indirect methods are used. The most acceptable way is serological tests. Venous blood is taken and examined for antibodies to the spirochete. As an adjunct, synovial and cerebrospinal fluids are also examined. The tick must be brought to the laboratory immediately after removal from the body by placing it in a container for biomaterials or in a test tube.

There are several blood tests for borreliosis. The transcript is presented below.

Since borreliosis does not develop immediately, you need to be tested at a certain time. In a hurry, a false negative result can be obtained. The peak concentration of antibodies is observed after three months. Before taking a blood test for encephalitis and borreliosis, you should quit smoking and do not eat for four hours.

The test results can be both qualitative ("detected" or "not detected"), and quantitative, that is, indicating the amount of antibodies.

Decoding the analysis for IgG antibodies

The decoding of the values \u200b\u200bis as follows:

• Less than 10 U / ml - "negative" (there is no infection or the test was submitted early).
• From 10 to 15 - "doubtful".
• Above 15 is "positive". Such a result may also indicate a past illness and the presence of bacterial endocarditis, syphilis, mononucleosis or other diseases in the patient. It is better to repeat a blood test for borreliosis after one to two weeks.

Indicators of the study for IgM antibodies

The decoding is as follows:

• Less than 18 U / ml - "negative".
• 18-22 - "doubtful".
• More than 22 - "positive". The recommendations are the same as in the previous analysis.

Western blot examination shows up as stripes on the membrane, indicating the presence or absence of antibodies to certain antigens. The method is effective as an additional one.

The conclusion may be as follows:

• "Positive" - \u200b\u200bIgM antibodies are present;
• “Negative” - no antibodies;
• "Undefined" - weak bands, which do not give an indication of the presence or absence of antibodies.

It is impossible to diagnose borreliosis on the basis of one analysis, since the process of its development is too complicated. It is also necessary to simultaneously pass tests for encephalitis, since ticks can be carriers of both diseases.

In the article, we examined how blood tests for tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis are given and deciphered.