Medical University of Vienna
As part of the EU "ID Lyme" project, the infection
immunology working group at the Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology at
the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology at the Medical
University of Vienna is working on developing of a new test for early detection
of Lyme disease (borreliosis).
This will improve the ability to detect an
active infection more easily than before so that healthy people with Lyme
disease antibodies in their blood do not receive unnecessary antibiotic
treatment and so that appropriate treatments can be initiated at an early
stage.
The antibody tests that are currently available only provide a reliable
result 3 -- 4 weeks after infection has occurred.
"On top of that, the
current test often interprets a mere antibody reaction as an infection and
people are treated with antibiotics unnecessarily, because the infection is way
in the past or is already completely resolved."
"Not
every tick bite necessarily results in an infection and not every positive Lyme
disease test means that infection is present. That's the tricky bit," adds
Gerold Stanek from the similarly named Institute and Center at MedUni Vienna
and one of the pioneers of research into Lyme disease in Austria.
For example,
a lot of hunters, who obviously spend a lot of time in woods and meadows, are
really healthy, even though they display antibodies to Lyme disease, i.e. they
have previously and repeatedly come into contact with it.
New test allows more accurate and
earlier diagnosis
The
current test is only able to analyze part of the human immune system, namely
the B-cells but not the T-cells, which are needed as helper cells to fight the
infection and whose activity indicates the presence of an infection.
The MedUni
Vienna immunology experts are therefore helping to develop the world's first
point-of-care test, which could be used to detect an active infection so that
patients could start the appropriate treatment.
The test, which is known as the
"Ixodes Kit" should be in clinical use in the autumn of 2016, said
the scientists, speaking on the occasion of World Immunology Day 2016. Ixodes
is the scientific name for hard-bodied ticks.
Best (April) climate for ticks
Lyme
disease is particularly common in Central Europe and in the Scandinavian
countries. As a result of global warming, its area of spread is continuously
moving northwards. Tick activity is starting earlier and earlier.
In Austria
itself, we currently have the best climate for ticks, as Stanek emphasizes:
"Ticks become active when the ground temperature rises above 7°C, as is
now the case in Spring."
So
far there is no vaccination available against Lyme disease, such as there is
for Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) that is also spread via tick bites.
Every
year around 70,000 people in Austria develop Lyme disease after being bitten by
a deer tick. Approximately one in every four ticks carries Lyme disease.
So-called erythema migrans is a sure sign of infection with tick-borne Lyme
disease. However, this only occurs in around one third of patients.
If the
bacterial infection is not detected in good time it can lead to serious
problems such as joint inflammation and even very painful infections of the nerve
roots resulting in paralysis or memory loss.
Apart
from Lyme disease and TBE, ticks also carry other pathogens such as Rickettsia,
Babesia, Anaplasma, Francisella tularensis, Bartonella and many others.
The
researchers and specialists from the Institute for Hygiene and Applied
Immunology at the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology of
MedUni Vienna are now conducting a new research project to identify the whole
spectrum of pathogens in ticks and to follow the diagnosis and treatment of
affected patients.
