Chronic Lyme disease references

Adinig C. 2026. Chronic Lyme Disease Prevalence: A US-CCUC Corrected National Estimate. doi:10.2139/ssrn.7122359. [accessed 2026 Oct 8]. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.7122359.

Anderson C, Brissette CA. The brilliance of Borrelia: mechanisms of host immune evasion by Lyme disease-causing spirochetes. Pathogens. 2021 Mar 2;10(3):281. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10030281

Arnaboldi PM, Becker J, Nath A, Coyle PK, Handel A, Sellati TJ, Gomes-Solecki M, Garcet S, Henderson MK, Mullins P, et al. 2026. Designing studies for post-treatment Lyme disease and other infection-associated chronic illnesses. Brain. 149(6):1842–1859. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awag016.

Bobe JR, Jutras BL, Horn EJ, Embers ME, Bailey A, Moritz RL, Zhang Y, Soloski MJ, Ostfeld RS, Marconi RT, Aucott J. Recent progress in Lyme disease and remaining challenges. Frontiers in Medicine. 2021 Aug 18;8:666554. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.666554

Barthold SW, Hodzic E, Tunev S, Feng S. 2006. Antibody-mediated disease remission in the mouse model of Lyme borreliosis. Infect Immun. Aug;74(8):4817-25. https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00469-06.

Cabello FC, Godfrey HP, Newman SA. 2007. Hidden in plain sight: Borrelia burgdorferi and the extracellular matrix. Trends Microbiol. Aug;15(8):350-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2007.06.003. 

Cabello FC, Godfrey HP, Bugrysheva JV, Newman SA. 2017. Sleeper cells: the stringent response and persistence in the Borreliella (Borrelia) burgdorferi enzootic cycle. Environ Microbiol. Oct;19(10):3846-3862. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.13897. 

Cabello FC, Embers ME, Newman SA, Godfrey HP. 2022. Borreliella burgdorferi Antimicrobial-Tolerant Persistence in Lyme Disease and Posttreatment Lyme Disease Syndromes. mBio. Jun 28;13(3):e0344021. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.03440-21.

Cabello FC, Embers ME, Newman SA, Godfrey HP. 2022. Reply to Luger, “Why Is It So Hard to Find Persistent Borreliella burgdorferi?”. mBio. Oct 26;13(5):e0216922. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02169-22.

Cameron DJ. 2010. Proof that chronic Lyme disease exists. Interdisciplinary perspectives on infectious diseases. Mar(1):876450. https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/876450.

Cesarone MR, Hu S, Belcaro G, Cornelli U, Feragalli B, Agus GB, Corsi M, Scipione C, Scipione V, Bombardelli E, et al. 2025. Supplementary management of chronic Lyme disease with Pycnogenol®. Minerva Medica. 116(3). https://doi.org/10.23736/s0026-4806.25.09703-4.

Clark KL, Hartman S. 2024. PCR Detection of Bartonella spp. and Borreliella spp. DNA in Dry Blood Spot Samples from Human Patients. Pathogens, 13, 727. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13090727.

Crossland NA, Alvarez X, Embers ME. 2018. Late Disseminated Lyme Disease: Associated Pathology and Spirochete Persistence Posttreatment in Rhesus Macaques. Am J Pathol. Mar;188(3):672-682.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2017.11.005.

Embers ME, Barthold SW, Borda JT, Bowers L, Doyle L, Hodzic E et al., Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in rhesus macaques following antibiotic treatment of disseminated infection. PloS ONE. 2012 Jan 11;7(1):e29914. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0029914.

Embers ME, Barthold SW, Borda JT, Bowers L, Doyle L, Hodzic E, Jacobs MB, Hasenkampf NR, Martin DS, Narasimhan S, et al. 2013. Correction: Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Rhesus Macaques following Antibiotic Treatment of Disseminated Infection. Herrmann JL, editor. PLoS ONE. 8(9). https://doi.org/10.1371/annotation/f84663e3-0a2c-4243-8f97-3a58133c1b0f.

Fallon BA, Kuvaldina M, Nevena Zubcevik, DeBiasi R, Mulkey SB, Chiu C, Chow F, Paolino K, Lai R, Putrino D, et al. 2025. Proposed research classification criteria for Lyme disease in infection associated chronic illness studies. Frontiers in Medicine. 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2025.1519163.

Fraser DD, Kong LI, Miller FW. Molecular detection of persistent Borrelia burgdorferi in a man with dermatomyositis. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 1992 Jul-Aug;10(4):387-90. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1395222/ 

Gadila SK, Rosoklija G, Dwork AJ, Fallon BA, Embers ME. Detecting Borrelia spirochetes: a case study with validation among autopsy specimens. Front Neurol. 2021 May 10;12: p628045. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.628045.

Golovchenko M, Opelka J, Vancova M, Sehadova H, Kralikova V, Dobias M, Raska M, Krupka M, Sloupenska K, Rudenko N. Concurrent Infection of the Human Brain with Multiple Borrelia Species. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Nov 29;24(23):16906. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242316906.

Gunning JN. 2025 June 13. Cycles of (Dis)engagement: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis of the (Health)Care-Seeking Experiences of Patients with Chronic Symptoms Following Lyme Disease. Health Communication.:1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2025.2512923.

Hirsch AG, Justice AE, Poissant A, Nordberg CM, Josyula NS, Aucott J, Rebman AW, Schwartz BS. 2025. A comparison of genome-wide association analyses of persistent symptoms after Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, and myalgic encephalomyelitis – chronic fatigue syndrome. BMC Infectious Diseases. 25(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-024-10238-x.

Horowitz R. 2026. Improving biomarkers of inflammation including phosphorylated tau in a patient with chronic Lyme disease/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome using dapsone combination therapy: A case study and literature review. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports. 10. https://doi.org/10.1177/25424823261445434.

Karami Z, Hofstede HJ, Joosten LA. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato Employs Several Escape Mechanisms to Bypass the Human Defense System. European Journal of Immunology. 2026 May;56(5):e70195. https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.70195

Karrasch M, Fingerle V, Boden K et al. Neuroborreliosis and acute encephalopathy: The use of CXCL13 as a biomarker in CNS manifestations of Lyme borreliosis. Ticks  Tick-Borne Dis. 2018 Feb 1;9(2):415-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2017.12.008.

Karvonen K, Nykky J, Marjomäki V, et al. Distinctive evasion mechanisms to allow persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in different human cell lines. Front Microbiol. 2021;12:711291. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.711291.

Liang FT, Brown EL, Wang T, Iozzo RV, Fikrig E. Protective niche for Borrelia burgdorferi to evade humoral immunity. Am J Pathol. 2004 Sep;165(3):977-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9440(10)63359-7.

MacDonald AB, Miranda JM. Concurrent neocortical borreliosis and Alzheimer’s disease. Human pathology. 1987 Jul 1;18(7):759-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0046-8177(87)80252-6 

Maloney EL. Controversies in persistent (chronic) Lyme disease. Journal of Infusion Nursing. 2016 Nov 1;39(6):369-75. https://doi.org/10.1097/NAN.0000000000000195.

Middelveen M, Sapi E, Burke J, Filush K, Franco A, Fesler M, Stricker R. 2018. Persistent Borrelia Infection in Patients with Ongoing Symptoms of Lyme Disease. Healthcare. 6(2):33. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare6020033.

Miklossy J. Alzheimer’s disease-a neurospirochetosis. Analysis of the evidence following Koch’s and Hill’s criteria. Journal of Neuroinflammation. 2011 Aug 4;8(1):90. https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-2094-8-90

Milovanovic B, Markovic N, Petrovic M, Vasko Zugic, Ostojic M, Bojic M. 2025. Cross-Sectional Study Evaluating the Role of Autonomic Nervous System Functional Diagnostics in Differentiating Post-Infectious Syndromes: Post-COVID Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Lyme Disease. Biomedicines. 13(2):356–356. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13020356/.

Rudenko N, Golovchenko M, Kybicova K, et al. Metamorphoses of Lyme disease spirochetes: phenomenon of Borrelia persisters. Parasites Vectors. 2019;12(1):237. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-019-3495-7.

Sapi E, Bastian SL, Mpoy CM, Scott S, Rattelle A, Pabbati N, Poruri A, Burugu D, Theophilus PA, Pham TV, Datar A. Characterization of biofilm formation by Borrelia burgdorferi in vitro. PloS one. 2012 Oct 24;7(10):e48277. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048277

Sapi, E.; Balasubramanian, K.; Poruri, A.; Maghsoudlou, J.S.; Socarras, K.M.; Timmaraju, A.V.; Filush, K.R.; Gupta, K.; Shaikh, S.; Theophilus, P.A. Evidence of in vivo existence of Borrelia biofilm in borrelial lymphocytomas. Eur. J. Microbiol. Immunol. 2016, 6, 9–24. https://doi.org/10.1556/1886.2015.00049

Sapi E, Kasliwala RS, Ismail H, Torres JP, Oldakowski M, Markland S, Gaur G, Melillo A, Eisendle K, Liegner KB, et al. 2019. The Long-Term Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi Antigens and DNA in the Tissues of a Patient with Lyme Disease. Antibiotics. 8(4):183. https://doi.org10.3390/antibiotics8040183/.

Sharma B, Brown AV, Matluck NE, Hu LT, Lewis K. Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, forms drug-tolerant persister cells. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy. 2015 Aug;59(8):4616-24. https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.00864-15 

Schoenfeld R, Araneo B, Ma Y, Yang LM, Weis JJ. 1992. Demonstration of a B-lymphocyte mitogen produced by the Lyme disease pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi. Infect Immun 60:. https://doi.org/10.1128/iai.60.2.455-464.1992.

Stricker RB, Johnson L. 2011. The pain of chronic Lyme disease: moving the discourse backward?. Clin. Infect. Dis. Dec 1;45:149-57: https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.11-1203LTR.

Stricker RB, Fesler MC, Johnson L. 2026. Persistent Borrelia Infection in Chronic Lyme Disease: A Review of the Medical Literature. Advances in Infectious Diseases, 16, 73-87; 2026 Jan 26: https://doi.org/10.4236/aid.2026.161005.

Strnad M, Rudenko N, Rego R. 2023. Pathogenicity and virulence of Borrelia burgdorferi. Virulence. 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/21505594.2023.2265015.

Verschoor YL, Vrijlandt A, Spijker R et al. Persistent Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato infection after antibiotic treatment: Systematic overview and appraisal of the current evidence from experimental animal models. Clinical microbiology reviews. 2022 Dec 21;35(4):e00074-22. https://doi.org/10.1128/cmr.00074-22.

Zhang Y. Persisters, persistent infections and the Yin–Yang model. Emerging Microbes & Infections. 2014 Jan 1;3(1):1-0. https://doi.org/10.1038/emi.2014.3 

Books and theses

Bruinsma RA. 2025. Lyme neuroborreliosis in children. Thesis, externally prepared, Faculty of Medicine. Universiteit van Amsterdam. handle.uba.uva.nl/personal/pure/en/publications/lyme-neuroborreliosis-in-children(88f97d16-a090-450c-8327-e8164779627f).html 

Fallon BA, Sotsky J. 2018. Conquering Lyme disease: science bridges the great divide. New York: Columbia University Press. 421 p.

Pfeiffer MB. Lyme: the first epidemic of climate change. Princeton University Press; 2018 Apr 17. https://www.thefirstepidemic.com/

Phillips S, Parish D. Chronic: the hidden cause of the autoimmune pandemic and how to get healthy again. Harvest; 2021 Jan 16. https://stevenphillipsmd.com/the-book/

Perronne C. Crypto-infections: Denial, Censorship and Suppression-the Truth about what Lies Behind Chronic Disease. Hammersmith Health Books; 2021.

Weintraub P. Cure Unknown (Revised Edition): Inside the Lyme Epidemic. Macmillan; 2013 Jun 25. 

ILADS list of research, pre-2017

Peer Reviewed List: Evidence of persistence, Bransfield RC, ILADS https://www.ilads.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/CLDList-ILADS.pdf