Vector-Borne Disease Overview and Diagnostic Landscape

Look past the complexity of vector-borne disease and get the foundational knowledge you need to navigate it. This guide covers the pathogens Galaxy Diagnostics tests for, how modern diagnostic technologies compare, and why standard testing frequently falls short for Borrelia, Bartonella, and Babesia. It is your clinical reference for understanding diagnostic uncertainty in this space and evaluating the tools available to address it.

This guide is built for providers who want to understand:

• Why co-infection is the rule, not the exception in tick-borne disease, and how a single-pathogen diagnostic approach can underestimate the true clinical burden
• The distinct biology of Borrelia, Bartonella, and Babesia and why each one creates different detection challenges that standard testing was not designed to address
• The difference between direct and indirect testing, including where antibody-based methods fall short and when direct pathogen detection adds clinical value
• How dPCR compares to standard PCR, FISH, and serology for vector-borne disease, and what to look for when evaluating competing laboratory claims
• The specific limitations of Standard Two-Tier Testing (STTT) for Lyme disease, including the antibody timing problem and why a negative result does not rule out infection in early or immunosuppressed cases

This primer was developed by Galaxy Diagnostics to give healthcare providers the scientific context to make more informed testing decisions. Galaxy was founded in 2009 specifically to address the diagnostic gap for stealth vector-borne pathogens, and its platform is built on research developed at North Carolina State University and George Mason University. The science behind this guide has been reviewed for accuracy by Justin Richards, PhD, Scientific Technical Writer, and Briana Horan, VP of Clinical Sales.