Post by DivineOblivion19 on May 27, 2006 13:46:38 GMT -5
At the clinic where I work, we've begun offering the 3DX test from IDEXX. This tests for Heartworm, Lyme Disease, and Ehrlichea. At first I thought this would be an amazing test to offer people, especially people who vacation in WI, MN, MI and for the people who live here in IL. There are ton of ticks in those states and if people are camping or hunting with their dogs I believe this would be a great thing.
One important part to this discussion is that the company claims that if a dog has been vaccinated for Lyme disease the test will be unaffected and the dog should test negative.
Well, at first we were seeing an occasional positive of Lyme or Ehrlichea. Most dogs were NOT symptomatic of the diseases but we did test a couple of dogs that had been limping and we haven't been able to diagnose (because the doctors didn't think if Lyme disease. This was before learning of how prevalent it actually is in this area.) and these dogs have tested positive.
But, we've had 4 dogs in the last couple of weeks test positive that have been vaccinated for Lyme since puppyhood. Two of these dogs were Labs that are hunters and the owner has vaccinated them for Lyme since they were 12 weeks old. These dogs are 2 years old now and are testing positive for Lyme.
I am losing faith in this test. I'm not sure that it is something that I can truly believe in. My opinion is that the dogs vaccinated for Lyme don't actually have Lyme but it's the vaccine that is making them test positive. That being said, if a dog has been exposed to the disease and now has high titers from exposure, will they also test positive? I'm just confused and of course the people I work for just can't wrap their brains around things like this, they believe in the test.
Please help me figure this one out...
One important part to this discussion is that the company claims that if a dog has been vaccinated for Lyme disease the test will be unaffected and the dog should test negative.
Well, at first we were seeing an occasional positive of Lyme or Ehrlichea. Most dogs were NOT symptomatic of the diseases but we did test a couple of dogs that had been limping and we haven't been able to diagnose (because the doctors didn't think if Lyme disease. This was before learning of how prevalent it actually is in this area.) and these dogs have tested positive.
But, we've had 4 dogs in the last couple of weeks test positive that have been vaccinated for Lyme since puppyhood. Two of these dogs were Labs that are hunters and the owner has vaccinated them for Lyme since they were 12 weeks old. These dogs are 2 years old now and are testing positive for Lyme.
I am losing faith in this test. I'm not sure that it is something that I can truly believe in. My opinion is that the dogs vaccinated for Lyme don't actually have Lyme but it's the vaccine that is making them test positive. That being said, if a dog has been exposed to the disease and now has high titers from exposure, will they also test positive? I'm just confused and of course the people I work for just can't wrap their brains around things like this, they believe in the test.
Please help me figure this one out...