Lyme Disease in Americans 10 Time More Common Than Reported: CDC

A latest report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates a 10-fold increase in the rate of Lyme disease in the United States.

The new estimates suggest that each year nearly 300,000 Americans are diagnosed with Lyme disease that is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi , listing it as the most frequently reported tick borne illness in the U.S.. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks.

This estimate by CDC comes from three ongoing studies which research the approximate number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease every year. The first study examined the medical claims data of nearly 22 million insured people annually for up to six years. The second study was focused on a survey of clinical laboratories and the third study analyzed self reported Lyme disease cases from a survey conducted on the general public.

"We know that routine surveillance only gives us part of the picture, and that the true number of illnesses is much greater," said Paul Mead, M.D., M.P.H, chief of epidemiology and surveillance for CDC's Lyme disease program. "This new preliminary estimate confirms that Lyme disease is a tremendous public health problem in the United States, and clearly highlights the urgent need for prevention."

This finding highlights that the total number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease is 10 times more than the yearly reported number and supports the previous studies that were published in the1990s. The previous findings suggest that the true number of cases is 3-12 folds greater than the number of reported cases.

Lyme disease is caused by three species of bacteria and is named after the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme, Connecticut, where a large number of cases were reported in 1975. It was only in 1981 that the cause of the disease was identified by Willy Burgdorfer. It causes symptoms like fever, headache, fatigue, depression and circular skin rashes known as erythema migrans. If this is left untreated it can spread to the central nervous system, heart and joints.

Lyle R. Petersen, M.D., M.P.H, director of CDC's Division of Vector-Borne Diseases said, "We know people can prevent tick bites through steps like using repellents and tick checks. Although these measures are effective, they aren't fail-proof and people don't always use them. We need to move to a broader approach to tick reduction, involving entire communities, to combat this public health problem."

A large number of Lyme disease cases in the U.S. were reported from the Northwest and Midwest with 96 percent of the cases coming from 13 different states in the regions.

The results were presented Sunday night in Boston at the 2013 International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis and Other Tick-Borne Diseases.