Taking Anti-Biotics Long Term Not Helping to Easy Lyme Disease Symptoms, Study Finds

New study from Dutch has revealed that Lyme disease symptoms will not be eased from longer-term antibiotic treatment.

Researchers discovered that a 12-week antibiotic treatment gave no more relief than placebo for patients with persistent symptoms, according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Most patients with Lyme disease are cured after initial antibiotic therapy. But, up to 20 percent of patients report persistent symptoms, such as muscular or joint pain, fatigue or concentration problems, despite initial antibiotic therapy," said study senior researcher Dr. Bart-Jan Kullberg a professor of infectious diseases at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

In an accompanying editorial, Michael T. Melia, MD, and Paul G. Auwaerter, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, noted that the study "is an important contribution and contains a simple message."

"Patients with subjective, vexing symptoms attributed to Lyme disease should not anticipate that even longer courses of antibiotics will produce relief, a finding that is in concert with results from previous trials," Melia and Auwaerter stated.

In conclusion from this study is that three months of antibiotic therapy will not provide benefits to patients reporting persistent symptoms of pain, fatigue or mental confusion, he said.

"These patients need customized care, not just a prescription for antibiotics," Kullberg said.

Lyme has been surging, especially in the northeastern and upper Midwest part of the U.S. The CDC now estimates there are approximately 300,000 cases of Lyme every year, with 30,000 reported cases.

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. Typical symptoms involve fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If not treated in a timely manner, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system.

Lyme disease in Europe is caused by a different species of bacteria than in North America.