title: Evidence for strain-specific immunity in patients treated for early lyme disease.
abstract: Lyme disease, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the United States. Many patients treated for early Lyme disease incur another infection in subsequent years, suggesting that previous exposure to B. burgdorferi may not elicit a protective immune response. However, identical strains are almost never detected from patients who have been infected multiple times, suggesting that B. burgdorferi exposure may elicit strain-specific immunity. Probabilistic and simulation models assuming biologically realistic data derived from patients in the northeastern United States suggest that patients treated for early Lyme disease develop protective immunity that is strain specific and lasts for at least 6 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Camilo E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Khatchikian
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Nadelman
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nowakowski
authors.forename: Ira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Gary P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Wormser
authors.forename: Dustin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brisson
mesh_terms: D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000276:immunology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012008:Recurrence; D013045:Species Specificity; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology