Lyme disease in Ireland: Estimates of up to 300 cases annually

By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

Officials with the Health Protection Surveillance Center (HPSC) in Ireland report it is estimated that there are probably between 150 and 300 cases per annum; however, the true incidence of early-stage Lyme disease in Ireland is not known.

This is according to an article in their publication, Epi-Insight.

Complications following Lyme borreliosis, while uncommon, do occur, though less frequently in Europe than in North America. They tend to occur sometime after initial infection and are more common in people who did not realize they had been infected or who were not initially treated.

Since first becoming notifiable in Ireland, between eight and 21 cases of Lyme neuroborreliosis are notified each year in Ireland. However, notification rates always represent an underestimate of the true level of disease.

Laboratories in Ireland generally follow the laboratory testing recommendations of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) and the British Infection Association (BIA).

In Ireland, treatment by most clinicians is based on that laid out in evidence-based guidelines for the management of patients with Lyme disease, published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) in 2006. A relatively brief course of antibiotics is sufficient to treat most cases of Lyme disease, they report.

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