Lyme Disease Diagnosis

The growing number of infectious diseases carried by ticks; the emergence of new vector-borne diseases; the unreliability of laboratory tests; and the complexity of symptom presentations and variations in each patient make Lyme disease one of the most perplexing and elusive medical conditions to identify.

Hallmark signs of the disease aren’t always present. Fewer than 50% of patients notice a bull’s-eye rash, and fewer than 50% of patients recall a tick bite.

Diagnosing the disease, particularly in later stages, can be challenging for any physician, even the most experienced. The Lyme spirochete are highly adept at evading the immune system, making both detecting the organism through tests and treating the disease difficult.