Testing Babesia and Bartonella

equestrianlvr said...
At Igenex is it better to do immunoblot versus IFA IgM IgG, if you have had Babesia or Bartonella for a long time?

I don’t know the answer.
The Lyme docs I had didn’t rely on testing.
I tested for Lyme via Igenex and was positive.
I was treated for Lyme/bart/babesia.

Tested positive over 10 years ago by means of an IFA.

if the purpose is to check if the infections are still present - serology ( tests for antibody responses) is often problematic for that - mainly because its an indirect test method - so relies on the immune system to produce antibodies that the test then tries to detect.

the host may or may not make the expected antibodies - or may continue to make antibodies after the infection has resolved.

there are direct methods available at other specialist labs that do not have this issue

Galaxy have a triple draw - then culture - then digital droplet PCR test for bartonella ( chronic bartonella is VERY tricky to detect)
this a direct test - it also increases the sensitivity ( chance of detecting the organism ) by 3 sperate blood draws, then culturing the results in a specially developed medium - then running pcr on the results
its the most sensitive test for bartonella with peer reviewed validation report published to date
but it is expensive

T-labs have a FISH test for babesia which is also a direct method - which works by attaching a fluorescent dye to the proteins in the Babesia organism itself - so that they light up brightly in fluorescent light under the microscope - it does not rely on the host immune response.

the final option is as per the link in my signature - diagnosis via DIY microscopy - its the cheapest option in terms of money - but it requires a considerable investment in time and effort to obtain the equipment, learn the techniques, and then, the largest challenge of all, educate oneself in how to properly interpret what you are looking at ( initially everything looks like infection). Still, it is a viable option for people with technical ability.