Evaluation of commercial screening tests and blot assays for the diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis

The performance of 4 screening testsand 10 blotassays for the serologic diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis in a Belgian population was evaluated. A total of 196 sera were tested: 36 Lyme borreliosis at different stages of the disease, 50 healthy blood donors, and 110 representing various clinical circumstances. The DiaSorin Liaisonand Euroimmun Anti- Borrelia screening testswere evaluated. The tested blotassays were Virotech BorreliaLINE tests WE222, WE225, and WE224, as well as Mikrogen recomLine Borreliaand Viramed ViraStripe. The specificity of IgG was acceptable for the different assays. For IgM, DiaSorin Liaison BorreliaIgM Quant, Mikrogen recomLine, and Viramed ViraStripe lacked specificity. Interestingly, a higher rate of falsely reactive samples was observed in the group of patients suffering from malaria. Serological diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis remains challenging; assays should be evaluated in the population where they are intended to be used.