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Review
. 2021 Aug 18:8:666554.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.666554. eCollection 2021.

Recent Progress in Lyme Disease and Remaining Challenges

Jason R Bobe  1 , Brandon L Jutras  2 , Elizabeth J Horn  3 , Monica E Embers  4 , Allison Bailey  1 , Robert L Moritz  5 , Ying Zhang  6 , Mark J Soloski  7 , Richard S Ostfeld  8 , Richard T Marconi  9 , John Aucott  7 , Avi Ma'ayan  1 , Felicia Keesing  10 , Kim Lewis  11 , Choukri Ben Mamoun  12 , Alison W Rebman  7 , Mecaila E McClune  2 , Edward B Breitschwerdt  13 , Panga Jaipal Reddy  5 , Ricardo Maggi  13 , Frank Yang  14 , Bennett Nemser  15 , Aydogan Ozcan  16 , Omai Garner  16 , Dino Di Carlo  16 , Zachary Ballard  16 , Hyou-Arm Joung  16 , Albert Garcia-Romeu  17 , Roland R Griffiths  17 , Nicole Baumgarth  18 , Brian A Fallon  19
Affiliations
Review

Recent Progress in Lyme Disease and Remaining Challenges

Jason R Bobe et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Lyme disease (also known as Lyme borreliosis) is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States with an estimated 476,000 cases per year. While historically, the long-term impact of Lyme disease on patients has been controversial, mounting evidence supports the idea that a substantial number of patients experience persistent symptoms following treatment. The research community has largely lacked the necessary funding to properly advance the scientific and clinical understanding of the disease, or to develop and evaluate innovative approaches for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Given the many outstanding questions raised into the diagnosis, clinical presentation and treatment of Lyme disease, and the underlying molecular mechanisms that trigger persistent disease, there is an urgent need for more support. This review article summarizes progress over the past 5 years in our understanding of Lyme and tick-borne diseases in the United States and highlights remaining challenges.

Keywords: Lyme disease; PTLD; diagnosis; field building; pathogenesis; prevention; treatment; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

AGR is a scientific advisor to NeonMind Biosciences and ETHA Natural Botanicals. In conjunction with Dr. S. Sontakke and North Carolina State University, EBB holds US Patent No. 7,115,385; Media and Methods for Cultivation of Microorganisms, which was issued on October 3rd, 2006. He is a co-founder, shareholder and Chief Scientific Officer for Galaxy Diagnostics, a company that provides advanced diagnostic testing for the detection of Bartonella spp. and Borrelia infections. RM is a co-founder, shareholder and the Chief Technical Officer for Galaxy Diagnostics. RTM is a paid consultant/speaker for Zoetis and receives license related income from Zoetis. MJS serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Global Lyme Alliance and has been issued a patent [US Patent No. 10 481 165] for “Elevated CCL19 after completion of therapy for acute Lyme disease identifies patients at risk for development of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome who will benefit from further antibiotic therapy”. AO has pending patent applications on the development of Lyme disease diagnostic tests. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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