RE: Pet Photos thread where too much is never enough.
March 26, 2018 at 1:28 pm
(This post was last modified: March 26, 2018 at 1:30 pm by Mermaid.)
(March 26, 2018 at 12:53 pm)Minimalist Wrote:We are trying to get more vets to heat-treat the serum before antigen testing. You know to ask, so you're way ahead of most people. Heat that serum! (and we're also trying to get people to quit practicing the "slow kill" method, but that's a different story).(March 26, 2018 at 10:58 am)Mermaid Wrote: How was she diagnosed? Antigen test? That test detects products of the female worm.
Yes, but. And the but comes in because of the previously mentioned Valley Fever issue which also uses an antigen test. After some weird test results - VF can be fatal - we started investigating the tests. Finding stuff like this does not do much to reassure us.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4336501/
Quote:False negative antigen tests in dogs infected with heartworm and placed on macrocyclic lactone preventives
Quote:Together, these data indicate that antigen tests may not be a reliable indicator of heartworm antigen status in D. immitis-infected dogs managed with SK; over half the dogs which converted to antigen negative were actually still antigen positive following treatment of serum to disrupt immune complexes.
I've seen studies where some vets only consider antigen tests 70% reliable. Troubling.
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