EUROPEAN INTERLABORATORY COMPARISON OF LYME BORRELIOSIS SEROLOGY

Serological testing for Lyme borreliosis was compared in 5 European re ference laboratories with a total of 79 sera in order to determine var iations in laboratory performance. A considerable range of methods wer e used and several laboratories employed 2 or 3 genomospecies of Borre lia burgdorferi sensu late. No laboratory relied routinely on a single test and each weighted the significance of the findings of the variou s tests differently A difference in strategy between laboratories in h igh and low prevalence areas was apparent in that laboratories in low prevalence areas emphasised specificity more than sensitivity and ther efore produced fewer false positives, but also missed some cases. Over all agreement between the laboratories was poor and it was concluded t hat there is a need for a quality assurance scheme within Europe.