Incidence patterns of lyme disease and cutaneous B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the United States.
BACKGROUND
Several reports have suggested a link between infection with Borrelia burgdorferi (the spirochete causing Lyme disease) and development of cutaneous B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (CBCL).


METHODS
We did a correlation analysis of CBCL and Lyme disease using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program and from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


RESULTS
We could not demonstrate a geographic correlation between incidence rates of Lyme disease and CBCL.


CONCLUSIONS
This observation suggests that infection with B. burgdorferi is not a major risk factor for CBCL in the USA.
Munksgaard
L
L
Department of Epidemiology Research, Danish Epidemiology Science Center, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. lmu@ssi.dk
Frisch
M
M
Melbye
M
M
Hjalgrim
H
H
D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology