At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis

	At-home test for infected ticks could improve Lyme Disease diagnosis(smithsonianmag.com)
	296 points by gmays 59 days ago \| 125 comments
	tl;dr: LymeAlert, launching in August for around $50, is an at-home test kit that detects Borrelia burgdorferi in ticks removed from people or pets, delivering results in 15 minutes via a pregnancy-test-style strip and companion app. Developed by an MIT Sloan team led by pediatric PA Erin Dawicki, it aims to close the gap left by mail-in tests that miss the CDC's 72-hour prophylactic antibiotic window. The CDC doesn't recommend tick testing due to false positive/negative risks, and experts caution the test indicates tick infection—not human infection—since only 1-5% of tick bites result in Lyme.
	HN Discussion: ↓Lateral flow test has inferior accuracy compared to PCR-based lab tests, claims unreviewed ↓Blood tests for humans would be more useful than testing the tick itself ↑Product will sell well given growing tick concerns among outdoor families ↓Prophylactic antibiotic advice is impractical in high-tick regions •Asking what viable alternatives exist if this test isn't the solution