The Diagnosis of Lyme Disease: Rewards and Perils

Editorials1 April 1989The Diagnosis of Lyme Disease: Rewards and PerilsAlan G. Barbour, MDAlan G. Barbour, MDSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-110-7-501 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptLyme disease, or, as it is increasingly called, Lyme borreliosis, is currently the commonest arthropodborne infection in the United States and Europe (1, 2). It also appears to be a frequent zoonotic disease in the Soviet Union (3). The etiologic agent,Borrelia burgdorferi, is a spirochete that is transmitted from animal to animal by hard-bodied ticks of the genusIxodes(4). For humans, who are inadvertent hosts for the ticks, Lyme borreliosis may be brief and inconsequential or chronic and disabling (5-7). Major manifestations in the skin, joints, or nervous system of some patients can evolve over years. The inflammation...References1. CiesielskiMarkowitzHorsleyHightowerRussellBroome CLRAHC. The geographic distribution of Lyme disease in the United States. In: Benach JL, Bosler EM, eds. Lyme Disease and Related Disorders, vol. 539. New York: The New York Academy of Sciences. 1988:283-8. CrossrefGoogle Scholar2. StanekPletschetteFlamm GMH. European Lyme borreliosis. In: Benach JL, Bosler EM, eds. Lyme Disease and Related Disorders. vol. 539. New York: The New York Academy of Sciences. 1988:274-82. CrossrefGoogle Scholar3. DekonenkoSteereBerardiKravchuk EAVL. Lyme borreliosis in the Soviet Union: a cooperative US-USSR report. J Infect Dis. 1988;158:748-53. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. BarbourHayes AS. Biology of Borrelia species. Microbiol Rev. 1986;50:381-400. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. SteereMalawistaHardin ASJ. Erythema chronicum migrans and Lyme arthritis: the enlarging clinical spectrum. Ann Intern Med. 1977;86:685-98. LinkGoogle Scholar6. SteereGreenSchoen AJR. 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GrodzickiSteere RA. Comparison of immunoblotting and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using different antigen preparations for diagnosing early Lyme disease. J Infect Dis. 1988;157:790-7. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar19. HansenHinderssonPedersen KPN. Measurement of antibodies to the Borrelia burgdorferi flagellum improves serodiagnosis in Lyme disease. J Clin Microbiol. 1988;26:338-46. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar20. MagnarelliAndersonBarbour LJA. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for Lyme disease: reactivity of subunits of Borrelia burgdorferi. J Infect Dis. 1989;159:43-9. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Alan G. Barbour, MDAffiliations: Nextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byProfessional Voice Users: An Overview of Medical Disorders and TreatmentsMedical Disorders and Treatments in Professional Voice Users and Wind InstrumentalistsProfessional Voice Users: An Overview of Medical Disorders and TreatmentsSpirochetal DiseasesSpirochetal DiseasesSpirochetal Infections and the EyeCharacterization of the humoral immune response in dogs after vaccination against the Lyme borreliosis agentPurification of Periplasmic Flagellar Antigen from Borrelia microttiProtection against tick-transmitted Lyme disease in dogs vaccinated with a multiantigenic vaccinePutting the Bite Into the Pediatric Syncope EvaluationEmerging tick-borne zoonoses: Lyme disease, babesiosis, human granulocytic ehrlichiosisSera from OspA-vaccinated dogs, but not those from tick-infected dogs, inhibit in vitro growth of Borrelia burgdorferiLyme Disease: A Review for the OtolaryngologistDemonstration of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA in urine samples from healthy humans whose sera contain B. burgdorferi-specific antibodiesReferencesLYME DISEASE: AN ORTHOPEDIC PERSPECTIVEDiagnosis of Lyme disease in childrenCardiovascular manifestations of Lyme diseasePitfalls in the evaluation of lyme diseaseCan protracted relapsing fever resemble lyme disease?Lyme Disease: Difficulties in Diagnosis and ManagementTick-Borne DiseasesImmunoreactive epitopes on an expressed recombinant flagellar protein of Borrelia burgdorferiInterlaboratory comparison of titers of antibody to Borrelia burgdorferi and evaluation of a commercial assay using canine seraComparative in vitro and in vivo susceptibilities of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi to cefuroxime and other antimicrobial agentsChildhood Lyme borreliosis in EuropeDoença de LymeThe many faces and phases of borreliosis I. Lyme diseaseAn Update on the Serodiagnosis of Canine Lyme BorreliosisPersistent atrioventricular block in Lyme borreliosisSequestration of antibody to Borrelia burgdorferi in immune complexes in seronegative Lyme disease 1 April 1989Volume 110, Issue 7Page: 501-502KeywordsBorrelia burgdorferiInfectious diseasesInflammationLyme diseaseNervous systemSpirochetesTicksZoonoses ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 April 1989 PDF downloadLoading ...