Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 23, 2026

Detecting the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, in Ticks Using Nested PCR
Published on: February 4, 2018
Lyme Disease and YouTube TM: A Cross-Sectional Study of Video Contents
Corey H Basch1, Lindsay A Mullican2, Kwanza D Boone2
1Department of Public Health, William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey, United States of America.
Objectives:
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease. People seek health information on Lyme disease from YouTubeTM videos. In this study, we investigated if the contents of Lyme disease-related YouTubeTM videos varied by their sources.
Methods:
Most viewed English YouTubeTM videos (n = 100) were identified and manually coded for contents and sources.
Results:
Within the sample, 40 videos were consumer-generated, 31 were internet-based news, 16 were professional, and 13 were TV news. Compared with consumer-generated videos, TV news videos were more likely to mention celebrities (odds ratio [OR], 10.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.13-52.58), prevention of Lyme disease through wearing protective clothing (OR, 5.63; 95% CI, 1.23-25.76), and spraying insecticides (OR, 7.71; 95% CI, 1.52-39.05).
Conclusion:
A majority of the most popular Lyme disease-related YouTube TM videos were not created by public health professionals. Responsible reporting and creative video-making facilitate Lyme disease education. Partnership with YouTubeTM celebrities to co-develop educational videos may be a future direction.
Related Concept Videos
Principles of Disease Surveillance
Rheumatic Heart Disease II: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Studies
Lysogenic Cycle of Bacteriophages
Prevalence and Incidence
Prevalence indicates the proportion of individuals in a population who have a specific disease or health...
Longitudinal Studies
Clinical Trials: Overview

