Majority of Patients With Lyme Disease Do Not Follow Up With Clinician
THURSDAY, July 10, 2025 -- Only 34 percent of patients with erythema migrans >5 cm are positive for Lyme disease by a standard two-tier testing (STTT) algorithm, and of patients continuing to experience symptoms, only 35 percent follow up with a clinician, according to a study published online July 10 in Frontiers in Medicine.
Elizabeth J. Horn, Ph.D., from the Lyme Disease Biobank in Portland, Oregon, and colleagues described laboratory testing results of 253 participants enrolled in the Lyme Disease Biobank between 2014 and 2023. Patients provided initial and convalescent blood samples taken two to three months later and clinical data at both blood draws.
The researchers found that 34 percent of samples from participants presenting with erythema migrans >5 cm at the first draw were positive by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention STTT algorithm. Immunoglobulin G seroconversion was rare, seen in only 4 percent of samples. No Lyme disease symptoms were seen in the second draw among the majority of participants (78 percent); ongoing symptoms were reported by 22 percent, most commonly joint pain, fatigue, and muscle pain. Among participants with ongoing symptoms, only 35 percent reported seeing their provider about symptoms.
"The Lyme Disease Biobank was visionary in recognizing early on that progress in research was dependent upon having a large number of well-characterized samples from patients with diverse manifestations of Lyme disease available for study," Linden Hu, M.D., professor of immunology at Tufts Medical School in Boston, said in a statement.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
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