Lyme disease.
Lyme disease, caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. The clinical presentation varies depending on the stage of the illness: early disease includes erthyma migrans, early disseminated disease includes multiple erythema migrans, meningitis, cranial nerve palsies, and carditis; late disease is primarily arthritis. The symptoms and signs of infection resolve in most patients after treatment with appropriate antimicrobials for 2 to 4 weeks. Serologic testing should be used judiciously as it often results in misdiagnosis when performed on blood from patients with a low prior probability of disease and those with only nonspecific symptoms such as fatigue or arthralgia without objective signs of infection.
Department of Pediatric, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8064, USA.
Thomas S
TS
Murray
Eugene D
ED
Shapiro
D000818:Animals; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D006801:Humans; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy / Q000635:transmission; D010542:Peromyscus / Q000382:microbiology; D011379:Prognosis