Debate on Lyme Disease testing in the UK enters The Times letters page:
Tick-borne disease
The only form of transmission of lyme disease is inoculation by ticks, a leading expert says
Sir, You report that the founder of Phones4U and his family have been given a diagnosis of lyme disease (Sept 23). Lyme disease is not an epidemic disease or a contagious disease; nor has there been any evidence of congenital transmission or transmission through breast milk. The only form of transmission is inoculation by ticks. A positive blood test may indicate that a person has been bitten by a lyme disease-infected tick although the patient has not developed overt lyme disease. Positive tests may persist for many years, even after treatment. There is no need to send specimens of blood for testing in the United States, as diagnostic methods in the UK are available and are comparable. Most cases of lyme disease, with the exception of lyme arthritis, tend to be self-limiting and respond to short courses of antibiotics. Industrial doses of antibiotics given over long periods do not promote further cures. Some rare cases with neurological and psychiatric presentations may be related to the after-effects of tick-borne flavivirus encephalitis. Physicians will always seek to find an organic cause for unexplained and unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms; sadly lyme disease is very rarely the cause.
David J M Wright MD FRCPath
Director (1982-2000) of the Lyme Disease Reference Laboratory, formerly at Charing Cross Hospital, London W6