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Case Reports
. 2017 Jun 16;66(23):607-609.
doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6623a3.

Serious Bacterial Infections Acquired During Treatment of Patients Given a Diagnosis of Chronic Lyme Disease - United States

Natalie S Marzec, Christina Nelson, Paul Ravi Waldron, Brian G Blackburn, Syed Hosain, Tara Greenhow, Gary M Green, Catherine Lomen-Hoerth, Marjorie Golden, Paul S Mead
Case Reports

Serious Bacterial Infections Acquired During Treatment of Patients Given a Diagnosis of Chronic Lyme Disease - United States

Natalie S Marzec et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. .

Abstract

The term "chronic Lyme disease" is used by some health care providers as a diagnosis for various constitutional, musculoskeletal, and neuropsychiatric symptoms (1,2). Patients with a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease have been provided a wide range of medications as treatment, including long courses of intravenous (IV) antibiotics (3,4). Studies have not shown that such treatments lead to substantial long-term improvement for patients, and they can be harmful (1,5). This report describes cases of septic shock, osteomyelitis, Clostridium difficile colitis, and paraspinal abscess resulting from treatments for chronic Lyme disease. Patients, clinicians, and public health practitioners should be aware that treatments for chronic Lyme disease can carry serious risks.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: No conflicts of interest were reported.

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