CDC reconfirms Chronic Lyme, denies effectiveness of more antibiotics

The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has once again recognized that Lyme Disease can result in long-term chronic health problems, long after standard antibiotic treatment has ended.

In a post on its website earlier this year, the CDC noted that some people with Lyme disease “have prolonged symptoms of fatigue, body aches, or difficulty thinking as a result of their infection.”

The statement follows a breakthrough in October of 2023, when CDC for the first time admitted that Chronic Lyme, also known as Long Lyme, is a real condition. It’s a position that advocates for Lyme Disease had long lobbied for. 

But that recognition comes with a major frustration for the Lyme Disease community. Despite recognizing the condition, the CDC continues to recommend against further antibiotic therapy to treat the condition. It claims that the source of Chronic Lyme is unknown and that “extended treatment with antibiotics is no better than placebo for curing prolonged symptoms.”

But evidence shows that the most common test for Lyme in North America is not very sensitive. Blood tests look for antibodies associated with Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease and often result in  false negatives. Direct testing methods are hampered by the fact that only a few Borrelia  spirochetes are needed to cause disease and they are easily missed.

Animal models of the disease show that persistent symptoms may be due to an interplay between persistent infection,  immune dysfunction and changes to neural networks. Co-infection with other pathogens might also be at play.

The evidence points to an urgent need to  develop better methods of detection that can lead to appropriate treatment for Chronic Lyme patients.  In the meantime health care practitioners must be educated to diagnose Chronic Lyme based on clinical history and physical examination.