Test for Lyme that can speed up treatment

neW tests can detect lyme disease bacteria — spread by ticks — more quickly and accurately than current tests, say U.S. scientists.

typically, lyme disease tests rely on detecting antibodies made by the immune system in response to the disease, but they do not indicate whether the disease is active.

Scientists say that the new tests directly detect the lyme disease bacteria’s DnA, and whether or not the infection is current. they are therefore more exact and are not susceptible to false-positive results.

the researchers at Rutgers Medical School, writing in the journal Clinical infectious Diseases, hope this can speed up the treatment of lyme disease.