Doctors examined him from head to toe to no avail, until an internal medicine specialist began to suspect the cause.
Máté Kruppai, who used to be an avid nature lover and keen hiker, has been battling a tick-borne infection for five years. In 2020, it emerged that his health problems were caused by Lyme borreliosis. As the young man explains, he was examined from head to toe when he visited doctors one after another with his problem, but they found no treatable cause. It was an internist who suggested that his complex symptoms might be caused by a tick-borne infection. He recommended a serological test: the ELISpot test came back positive. Under the current protocol, she was only eligible for a month’s course of standard antibiotic treatment. She began researching the condition online and joined patient support groups on Facebook. That is how she came across the name of Dr Klára Esztó, whom she subsequently contacted.
Why did you think it was important to have a test for Lyme disease?
Although a further test confirmed that I had Lyme disease, that my infection was severe and that I was in the active stage, I hadn’t improved as I should have, despite several months of antibiotic treatment. At that point, my doctor suggested that I might have a co-infection, which was why the treatment wasn’t working effectively enough, and so she recommended the DualDur test, as it is capable of detecting these as well.
How did you react to the test result?
After the quick sample collection – which was essentially a blood test – the first result arrived promptly and confirmed what I’d essentially known for a year and a half: I had Lyme disease. A few days later, the co-infection was also revealed: Bartonella had also attacked my body. I was prepared for this, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise, but I finally had a diagnosis based on evidence.
How reliable do you consider the DualDur test to be?
As I’m an engineer, what I find most credible is what I can actually see for myself. The DualDur test is just that. There’s no room for error here, nor can there be, as the test can detect the pathogens; for this reason, I consider it absolutely reliable.
Has your treatment changed following the diagnosis? Are you already feeling any improvement in your general well-being?
As the doctor suspected a co-infection, she prescribed the course of treatment in advance, on the condition that I should only start it if the DualDur test came back positive for Bartonella. I was only able to start taking the medication recently for other reasons, but after just two weeks my mood had improved significantly – I’d say it’s done a complete 180. For me, this is one of the most difficult symptoms of the infection to cope with.
(C) Lyme Borreliosis Foundation
