If there has been one silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been the rise of rapid self-tests, which provide results at home in minutes. Researchers are hard at work at developing similar tests for other diseases—including Lyme.
Lyme disease is transmitted by the black-legged (or deer) tick and infects about 476,000 Americans each year. The faster those people can get treated with the antibiotics doxycycline or amoxicillin, the better their chances of having a short, mild case of the disease.
But despite the clear need, there’s a problem when it comes to speed and ease of testing for the tickborne illness.
How Lyme disease tests are currently done
Most tests are performed in a doctor’s office and require a blood…