[Studies on 15 seropositive cases to Lyme disease using immunoperoxidase test in Japan]

The serological survey, analyzing sera which were obtained from Lyme disease suspected subjects was performed using immunoperoxidase (IP) test between July, 1987 and February, 1989. Fifteen seropositive subjects to Borrelia burgdorferi have been found in this survey, and these cases were considered to be true Lyme disease or highly suspected for this illness. Most of these seropositive cases geographically occurred in northern part of Japan, and both sexes and all age subjects were affected. In clinical manifestations, 5 cases developed a typical skin lesion of erythema chronicum migrans (ECM) followed by tick-bite. Neurologic manifestations were found in 6 cases, including one patient who also had ECM after a known tick bite. Of these neurologic manifestations, 4 cases had lymphocytic meningitis, 3 unilateral or bilateral facial palsy, and one encephalomyelitis. When 8 of these 15 sera were analyzed for antibodies to Lyme disease with ELISA, a poor agreement of serodiagnosis between IP test and ELISA has been found in the course of this study.