A Rutgers Health physician-scientist publishes guidance for primary care doctors diagnosing and treating early Lyme disease, a bacterial infection. Every year in the United States, an estimated 476,000 people are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease. The estimate comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics. The best health outcomes are most likely when diagnosis is made within the first weeks of infection. If left untreated, the effects of Lyme disease can linger for years and cause neurological problems, arthritis, and a host of other ailments. But because diagnosing Lyme can be difficult, some cases of the disease go undetected long after initial transmission.
To help clinicians improve Lyme disease outcomes, physician-scientists at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and Stony Brook University have published a guidance article in NEJM Evidence, The New England Journal of Medicine’s digital digest, on the informed evaluation and treatment of Lyme in its early stages. To read the full story.