Long-Term Antibiotics Won't Fight Lyme Disease 10.22.06, 12:00 AM ET
SUNDAY, Oct. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Long-term antibiotic treatment of people with Lyme disease has not proven to be effective, and use of the drugs for more than four weeks may even be dangerous, according to new expert guidelines.
The updated Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment guidelines were released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
The guidelines also note that 95 percent of cases of Lyme disease are cured within 10 to 28 days of treatment with oral antibiotics.
Major changes in the guidelines, originally published in 2002, include:
The addition of information on human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) and babesiosis, two diseases transmitted by the same tick that transmits Lyme disease.
Recommendations of a single dose of the antibiotic doxycycline for certain high-risk people who've been bitten by a tick by don't have symptoms of Lyme disease.
More information about so-called "chronic" or post-Lyme syndromes.
This refers to patients who report a variety of non-specific symptoms -- such as generalized pain, joint pain, or fatigue -- after they've been appropriately treated with antibiotics. The updated guidelines are expected to be available shortly on the IDSA Web site at http://www.idsociety.org and to be published in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
"We worked to make the guidelines as comprehensive as possible based on a thorough review of all credible scientific literature," lead author Dr. Gary P. Wormser, chief of the division of infectious diseases and vice chairman of the department of medicine at New York Medical College, said in a prepared statement. Wormser was chair of the expert panel that developed the updated guidelines.
Lyme disease is transmitted by the black-legged deer tick. The disease has been reported across the United States, but the majority of cases occur in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about Lyme disease.
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posted
It would be interesting to see the distribution list for the IDSA press release about these guidelines. Looks like it went out to thousands of publications and is getting used without a shred of pretense at journalism.
And would anyone be surprised that Forbes would be supporting the fat cats? Ins cos execs are probably his best friends.
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Foggy
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So glad Forbes did their homework on this one. Posts: 2451 | From Lyme Central | Registered: Aug 2001
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trails
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If you have an opinion about what they had published please write to them.
Please also note, that Reuters Medical News didn't publish anything on the new guidance. Seems that they decided to stay away from the topic of Lyme Wars. They have learned their lessons from our letters about a year ago.
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5dana8
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Forbes shame,shame,shame on you
Thanks for the e-mail address Arneneli
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This is the same article discussed that was posted on the Yahoo News home page several days back. (HealthDay News)
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Forbes shame,shame,shame on you
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