Abstract The paper discusses Lyme disease, the most popular tick borne disease in the United States. The paper explains that while mortality rates are very low, the cognitive deficits, musculoskeletal disorders (arthritis) and the other neurological complications have made life difficult for patients suffering from the chronic form of the disease. The paper proposes that since the symptoms of Lyme disease are directly associated with the bacterium's ability to control the expression of the proteolytic enzymes inside the host, that understanding the underlying mechanisms should be of high priority focus for future research. The paper concludes that new drugs are under trial studies and there is hope that pharmacological interventions would soon eradicate persistent spirochaetes.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Etiology
Pathophysiology
Treatment Options for Lyme disease
Vaccination
Conclusion
From the Paper "Two recently completed trials conducted by Klempner et.al have proved that prolonged administration of antibiotics on chronic patients does not offer any improvement in symptom control. For the study, the researchers included two different groups of people. One group represented 78 patients who were seropositve for IgG antibodies corresponding to Borrelia burgdorferi, while the other group involving 51 people were sero negative. The existence of previously documented Lyme disease and persistence of musculoskeletal symptoms inspite of previous course of antibiotic therapy were necessary conditions in the selection of subjects for this study."
