Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23592827›Full record

ArticleClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2013

Performance of United States serologic assays in the diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis acquired in Europe.

John A Branda, Franc Strle, Klemen Strle, Nikhil Sikand, Mary Jane Ferraro, Allen C Steere

Open access · bronzeAbstract readComparative StudyEvaluation Study
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
9.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 90 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
  2. Pooled it
  3. Guideline
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Article
  7. Prevalence and Risk Factors ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Borrelia surface proteins: new horizons in Lyme disease diagnosis.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2025
    Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Laboratory Diagnosis of Lyme Borreliosis.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2021
    Review
  15. Article
  16. Modified two-tiered testing algorithm for Lyme disease serology: the Canadian context.Canada communicable disease report = Releve des maladies transmissibles au Canada · 2020
    Review
  17. Review
  18. Geographical Features and Seroprevalence ofJournal of arthropod-borne diseases · 2018
    Article
  19. Pilot Study of Immunoblots with RecombinantHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018
    Article
  20. A Community Study ofHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

John A BrandaMicrobiology Laboratory, GRB 526, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA. branda.john@mgh.harvard.edu
Franc Strle
Klemen Strle
Nikhil Sikand
Mary Jane Ferraro
Allen C Steere
Massachusetts General Hospital · USHarvard University · USLjubljana University Medical Centre · SI

Funding

Defining Microbial and Host Factors in Innate Immune Responses in Lyme ArthritisK01AR062098 · NIAMS · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI STRLE, KLEMEN · 2012 to 2014
$398k
NIAMS NIH HHS K01 AR062098
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPhysicians in the United States sometimes need to evaluate a patient for suspected Lyme borreliosis (LB) who may have acquired the infection in Europe. Using serum samples from European LB patients, we compared the performance of European and US serodiagnostic tests, including newer-generation assays containing Vmp-like sequence, expressed or its C6 peptide.

methodsThe sensitivity of each assay was determined using 64 serum samples from LB patients with early or late disease manifestations who acquired the infection in Europe. Specificity was measured using 100 sera from healthy subjects from a nonendemic area.

resultsFor the detection of European-acquired infection, conventional 2-tiered testing (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] followed by immunoblotting) using US assays had an overall sensitivity and specificity of 52% and 100%, compared with 81% (P = .0007) and 99% (P = 1.00) using analogous European tests. The sensitivity of a US C6 ELISA used as a stand-alone test (88% overall) was statistically comparable to that of conventional 2-tiered testing using European tests (P = .47) and was 100% specific. Similarly, an alternative 2-tiered algorithm using a standard US ELISA followed by a C6 ELISA was comparably sensitive (84% overall) compared with conventional 2-tiered testing using European assays (P = .82), and specificity remained 100%.

conclusionsEuropean assays outperformed analogous US assays in a conventional 2-tiered testing algorithm. However, a C6 ELISA used as a stand-alone test or in the second tier of a 2-tiered algorithm performed comparably to conventional 2-tiered testing using European assays, and can be used for evaluation of any patient, regardless of travel history.

Indexed as

TravelEuropeHumansLyme DiseaseSensitivity and SpecificitySerologic TestsUnited StatesBorrelia burgdorferiC6diagnosisLymeVlsE

Identifiers

PMID23592827
PMCPMC8210822
OpenAlexW2136406865

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.