Health
As Lyme disease tests miss many acute infections, potential at-home test offers hope for earlier diagnosis
When Americans spend time in the great outdoors this summer, they don’t want to come back home with any uninvited guests.
Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne disease in the United States, can have severe complications if left untreated or unnoticed.
Prompt treatment is essential to prevent the spread of the disease elsewhere in the body.
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Yet the current recommended laboratory test to diagnose Lyme disease misses many early cases.
Now, a Virginia Tech research team is developing a promising at-home test that can diagnose the illness within hours of transmission, according to a recent report.
This undated photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick. Officials said ticks would be more active than usual early in spring 2023, which means Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections could spread earlier and in greater numbers than in a typical year. Ticks can transmit multiple diseases that sicken humans, and deer ticks, which spread Lyme, are a fact of life in the warm months in New England and the Midwest. (CDC via AP/File)
Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium known as Borrelia burgdorferi and rarely, borrelia mayonii, which is transmitted to humans after an infected blacklegged tick bites them, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“The only FDA-approved diagnostic for Lyme disease measures antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi, not the presence of the bacterium itself,” Linda Giampa, executive director of the Bay Area Lyme Foundation in San Francisco, California, told Fox News Digital.
“Lyme disease has been commonly misdiagnosed by unreliable tests for far too long.”
“It misses up to 60% of acute cases of Lyme, as it takes several weeks for these antibodies to rise to detectable levels in people,” she added.
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“Lyme disease has been commonly misdiagnosed by unreliable tests for far too long, and there are currently no reputable at-home tests on the market,” she also said.
Symptoms may mimic the flu
Some 35,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to the CDC every year, but the number of cases is grossly underreported — with insurance records estimating the true annual number around 476,000, according to experts.
The infection was named where it was first discovered: Lyme, Connecticut.
The CDC says people may experience symptoms that could mimic the flu — such as fever, chills, muscle and joint aches — within several days to one month after they’re bitten by a tick. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Within several days to one month after a tick bite, someone may experience symptoms that could mimic the flu, such as fever, chills, muscle and joint aches, per the CDC.
In 70-80% of cases, a classically non-itchy rash that resembles a “bull’s-eye” develops at the site of the bite, often within a week of the infection, the agency added.
Prompt treatment helps decrease signs and symptoms of the disease and prevents spread to later stages of illness.
In later stages of the disease, such as days to months after the tick bite, untreated Lyme disease can spread to other parts of the body in about 60% of the patients.
Prompt treatment helps decrease signs and symptoms of the disease and prevents spread to later stages of illness.
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Diagnosis relies on the body’s immune response to the Lyme bacteria because it’s very difficult to culture the bacteria directly in lab.
A tick is shown running over a hand in June 2021. (Bernd Weissbrod/picture alliance via Getty Images)
“This requires both a healthy immune system and time to produce a robust enough response that can be detected (i.e., anti-B. burgdorferi titer),” Dr. Brandon Jutras, associate professor in the department of biochemistry and a member of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, told Fox News Digital via email.
At-home test directly detects bacteria
Last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation, a nonprofit to advance research of Lyme disease, initiated a competition known as the LymeX Diagnostics Prize.
The Jutras team at Virginia Tech is focusing on a component in the cell wall that’s unique to the bacteria that cause the disease.
The goal was to inspire researchers to develop better diagnostic tests to detect active Lyme disease infections in people more accurately.
There are 10 teams competing in the second round, including the team at Virginia Tech.
The goal of the competition known as the LymeX Diagnostics Prize is to inspire researchers to develop better diagnostic tests to detect active Lyme disease infections in people more accurately. The group at Virginia Tech is working on an at-home test that could enable “direct detection” of Lyme disease within just hours of transmission. (iStock)
“Among the promising diagnostics supported by the LymeX Diagnostics Prize are at-home tests, which are being developed by a research group at Virginia Tech to enable direct detection of the Lyme disease bacterium within hours of transmission,” Giampa noted.
The Jutras team is focusing on a component in the cell wall that’s unique to the bacteria that cause the disease.
There are hopes the team’s work “will lead to a rapid, specific test that doesn’t rely on a patient response.”
“Virtually all bacteria have layer(s) of peptidoglycan, and many of the components that make up peptidoglycan are highly similar,” Jutras told Fox News Digital.
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“As it turns out, the peptidoglycan from the bacterium that causes Lyme disease is vastly different.”
As the bacteria grow, they shed these unique pieces of their peptidoglycan that are highly abundant — which makes it a “perfect biomarker for diagnostics,” he added.
A close-up of an adult female, an adult male, nymph and larva tick are shown here. Ticks can cause Lyme disease, an acute inflammatory disease characterized by skin changes, joint inflammation and flu-like symptoms. (Getty Images)
“We have created several monoclonal antibodies that are capable of specifically detecting the peptidoglycan pieces,” he said.
Antibodies to the Lyme bacteria can linger for months, he said.
So it’s not always clear from the current recommended testing available if the patient has an active infection — or was infected in the past.
Although it will be likely several years before his test may be ready for use, “our approach would, in theory, work immediately after transmission because as long as the bacterium is replicating, [it is] shedding peptidoglycan,” he said.
It will be likely several years before this test may be ready for use.
“This is a basic feature of this unusual organism,” he added.
“Our test exploits this process,” he said — noting that he hopes it “will lead to a rapid, specific test that doesn’t rely on a patient response.”
LymeX Diagnostic Prize officials note on the competition’s website, “As the geographic range of ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas that can transmit pathogens and cause disease expands within the United States, the need for diagnostic innovation will only become more urgent.”
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Jutras also said, as noted on that site, that he hopes long term, “we can do exactly what happened with COVID-19 and turn it into an at-home test. You wouldn’t be able to do a blood test; that’s not safe. But where we would optimize this is the urine test.”
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Ivanka Trump, the daughter of incoming President Donald Trump, has been known to lead an active life.
As the mother of three kids and a lover of outdoor sports, the 43-year-old is always on the move, recently adding jiu-jitsu to her mix of physical activity.
In a recent appearance on The Skinny Confidential Him & Her podcast, Trump shared how her daughter, Arabella, expressed interest in learning self-defense when she was 11.
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“I’m just so in awe of [her],” Trump said about her daughter. “She came to me and said, ‘As a woman, I feel like I need to know how to defend myself, and I don’t have a confidence level yet that I can do that.’”
Ivanka Trump plays with her daughter, Arabella Rose Kushner, in the Rose Garden during a Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn of the White House in June 2017. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Trump responded, “At 11 … I was not thinking about how to physically defend myself, and I thought it was the coolest thing.”
After researching self-defense options, Trump enrolled Arabella, now 13, in jiu-jitsu (martial arts) classes with the Valente Brothers in Miami, Florida – and soon the whole family joined in.
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“[Arabella] started asking me to join – I joined,” she said. “Then my two sons wanted to do what their older sister was doing. Then my husband joined … It is good for everyone.”
“It’s almost like a moving meditation.”
Trump, who is now a blue belt in jiu-jitsu, described that she likes how the sport “meshes physical movement.”
“It’s almost like a moving meditation because the movements are so micro,” she said. “It’s like three-dimensional chess.”
“There’s like a real spiritualism to it … The grounding in sort of samurai tradition and culture and wisdom.”
During President Trump’s first term in the White House, Ivanka Trump noted that she had very little focus on fitness, only taking weekly runs with husband Jared Kushner and “chasing the kids around the house.”
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Trump shared that she was “never a gym person,” but always loved sports, which still holds true today.
She said she enjoys skiing, surfing and racquet sports like padel tennis (a hybrid of tennis and squash) and pickle ball, which she described as “fun and social.”
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are seen out for a walk with their children on Dec. 10, 2022, in Miami, Florida. (MEGA/GC Images)
‘Elevating awareness’
On the podcast, Trump said she was drawn to jiu-jitsu because it combines physical fitness and philosophy.
It also focuses more on how to extract yourself from a dangerous situation before having to harm someone who’s a threat, she noted.
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“Having these skills makes you less likely to get into a fight, not more likely to,” Trump went on.
“Once you have the confidence that you can sort of move out of a situation, there’s a real focus on elevating awareness.”
Ivanka Trump waves as she arrives at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for US President Donald Trump’s departure on Jan. 20, 2021. (ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
In a previous interview with Fox News Digital, Rener Gracie, head instructor of jiu-jitsu at Gracie University in California, stressed that the only truly reliable skills are those that have been “mastered into muscle memory.”
This occurs through extensively practicing self-defense methods like Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which are “leverage-based and don’t rely on you having a physical advantage over the subject,” he noted.
“Having these skills makes you less likely to get into a fight, not more likely to.”
“And by that, I mean strength, speed, power and size — because in almost every case, the attacker is going to target someone who they feel is physically inferior to them.”
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Gracie, whose family created Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), shared that jiu-jitsu is “highly sought after” because it only takes weeks or months for someone to “develop the core skills that could keep them safe in a violent physical encounter.”
‘Transformative’ strength training
In addition to mastering self-defense skills, Ivanka Trump recently revealed a shift in her fitness routine to include weightlifting and resistance training.
On Instagram, Trump posted a video displaying different exercises with various equipment in the gym, noting in the caption that she used to focus primarily on cardio, yoga and Pilates.
“Since moving to Miami, I have shifted my focus to weightlifting and resistance training, and it has been transformative in helping me build muscle and shift my body composition in ways I hadn’t imagined,” she wrote.
“I believe in a strength training approach built on foundational, time-tested and simple movements – squats, deadlifts, hinges, pushes and pulls. These are the cornerstones of my workout, emphasizing functional strength for life.”
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Trump added that prioritizing form is “essential” to ensure results before adding on weight.
“This ensures a safe and steady progression while maintaining the integrity of each movement,” she continued. “I incorporate mobility work within my sessions to enhance range of motion.”
“I believe in a strength training approach built on foundational, time-tested and simple movements – squats, deadlifts, hinges, pushes and pulls,” Ivanka Trump wrote in an October Instagram post. (Ivanka Trump/Instagram)
“Weightlifting has enhanced not just my strength but my overall athleticism and resilience,” she added.
Trump said she dedicates three to four days a week to strength training, including two solo sessions and two with a personal trainer.
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She also said that increasing her protein intake has also been “critical” to her progress.
“I now consume between 30 and 50 grams of protein a meal,” she said. “It works … I’ve never been stronger!”
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are seen arriving at the beachside eatery on May 2, 2024, in Miami Beach, Florida. (MEGA/GC Images)
Trump also still enjoys weekly yoga sessions, spending time outdoors with her children and playing sports with friends, she said.
“I also incorporate a couple of short (10-minute), high-intensity interval training sessions (such as sprints) each week to keep my cardiovascular fitness sharp and dynamic,” she noted.
“This balanced approach has infused new energy into my fitness routine and yielded great results.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Ivanka Trump for comment.
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