Lyme Disease Antibody Screen (IgG, IgM) details

This is the initial screening test for Lyme disease antibodies, typically using an ELISA or similar method to check for an overall antibody response to the bacteria that cause Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi). Because this screening test can occasionally give false positives (from other infections or autoimmune conditions) or, early in the illness, false negatives (before antibodies have had time to develop), a positive or equivocal result is followed by a more detailed confirmatory Western blot test, which looks for antibodies against several specific individual proteins (bands) of the bacteria to improve diagnostic accuracy.