Point-of-Care Lyme Test Could Reduce Referrals Out of Urgent Care

It’s common for patients complaining of fatigue, fever, stiff joints, and overall body aches and malaise to seek treatment in an urgent care center. Depending on the season and what examination reveals—a telltale bullseye rash, for example—the clinician might suspect Lyme disease and be inclined to suggest the patient see another provider for testing and treatment. Even if they’re able to test on site, the patient would have to wait several days for the results and probably see another provider for follow-up. However, a new point-of-care test could allow at least some of those patients to get tested and start treatment on their initial visit to the urgent care center, without being referred out at all. That would also give them a better chance of warding off progression of the disease. The recently approved test, Quidel Corporation’s Sofia Lyme FIA, is the first to provide differentiated results for both IgM and IgG on a single test.