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Updated: Mar 28, 2026
Author Spotlight: Expanding the Scope of Multiplex Immunoassays for Lyme Borreliosis Diagnostics and Pathogen Research
Published on: July 14, 2023
Cross-reactivity between Lyme and syphilis screening assays: Lyme disease does not cause false-positive syphilis
Glenn Patriquin1, Jason LeBlanc2, Charles Heinstein3
1Department of Medicine, Nova Scotia Health Authority and Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada.
Abstract:
Increased rates of Lyme disease and syphilis in the same geographic area prompted an assessment of screening test cross-reactivity. This study supports the previously described cross-reactivity of Lyme screening among syphilis-positive sera and reports evidence against the possibility of false-positive syphilis screening tests resulting from previous Borrelia burgdorferi infection.
