What is Lyme disease?
Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium “Borrelia burgdorferi”, which is transmitted through infected tick bites. These ticks are about the size of a pin head and are found in woodland and around heathland. If you have been bitten by a tick and haven't removed it within a couple of days, you may be at risk of Lyme disease. Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose, it has similar symptoms to other conditions and there's not always an obvious rash.
Why consider a Lyme disease test?
If you find a tick on your body or if you work or enjoy leisurely activities in overgrown, grassy or wooden areas, you should consider a test for Lyme disease. If left untreated, Lyme disease can develop over time into more serious conditions, even after symptoms have disappeared.
Lyme disease symptoms can take several weeks to develop and include:
- Red bump that spreads into a rash with a ‘bull’s eye’ centre
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Muscle and joint pain
- Stiff neck
- Chills
Protect yourself and put your mind at ease
SELFCHECK Lyme Disease Home Test Kit is a simple and confidential, 10 minute, finger-prick blood spot self-test that can be performed in the privacy of your own home. To use your test, you will need to use the single-use finger pricker supplied to obtain a blood sample and apply to the lateral flow test cassette. The test detects IgM antibodies which are present in about 70 to 90% of people around 4 to 6 weeks following infection and generally present after 6 weeks. The test has greater than 88% agreement with laboratory reference tests. One line means a negative result and no Borrelia IgM antibodies have been detected, Two lines means a positive result which means that a high level of Borrelia IgM antibodies have been detected and you should speak to your doctor.
Always speak with your doctor if you have symptoms that concern you, even if you have a negative result.
