Early Disseminated Lyme Disease Causing False-Positive Serology for Primary Epstein-Barr Virus Infection: Report of 2 Cases

Adriana J Pavletic; Adriana R Marques

doi:10.1093/cid/cix298

Early Disseminated Lyme Disease Causing False-Positive Serology for Primary Epstein-Barr Virus Infection: Report of 2 Cases

Clin Infect Dis. 2017 Jul 15;65(2):336-337. doi: 10.1093/cid/cix298.

Authors

Adriana J Pavletic¹, Adriana R Marques²

Affiliations

¹ Office of the Clinical Director, National Institute of Mental Health.
² Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

Abstract

False-positive serology for Lyme disease was reported in patients with acute infectious mononucleosis. Here we describe 2 patients with early disseminated Lyme disease who were misdiagnosed with infectious mononucleosis based on false-positive tests for primary Epstein-Barr virus infection.

Keywords: Epstein-Barr virus serology; VCA IgM antibodies; early disseminated Lyme disease; false positive; infectious mononucleosis.

Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2017. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Aged
Antibodies, Viral / blood*
Antibodies, Viral / immunology
Antigens, Viral / immunology
Diagnostic Errors
False Positive Reactions
Female
Herpesvirus 4, Human / immunology*
Humans
Immunoglobulin M / blood
Infectious Mononucleosis / diagnosis*
Infectious Mononucleosis / immunology
Lyme Disease / diagnosis*
Lyme Disease / immunology
Male

Substances

Antibodies, Viral
Antigens, Viral
Immunoglobulin M