Related Experiment Videos
Outcomes of children treated for Lyme disease
T J Wang1, O Sangha, C B Phillips
1Department of Medicine, and Robert B. Brigham Multipurpose Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Insights
Children treated for Lyme disease (LD) showed no long-term health issues in a population study. Early antibiotic treatment for LD appears to prevent lasting complications in pediatric patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Epidemiology
- Clinical Outcomes Research
Background:
- Lyme disease (LD) is a tick-borne illness with potential long-term health consequences.
- Population-based studies are crucial for understanding disease outcomes in endemic areas.
- Assessing long-term morbidity in children treated for LD requires comprehensive evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the long-term health outcomes of children diagnosed with Lyme disease (LD).
- To compare morbidity rates in children with and without a history of LD.
- To determine the impact of early antibiotic treatment on long-term LD outcomes in a pediatric population.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective population-based cohort study conducted on an endemic island off the coast of Massachusetts.
- Comparison of 25 children with confirmed LD against 26 controls without LD, all from the same community.
- Clinical evaluation included electrocardiograms (EKG) and serological tests for Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies; all LD patients received acute-phase antibiotics.
Main Results:
- After a mean follow-up of 3.2 years, children with prior LD showed no increased prevalence of musculoskeletal or neurological symptoms compared to controls.
- No significant differences were observed in examination abnormalities or abnormal EKG findings between the LD group and the control group.
- Behavioral difficulties were not found to be more prevalent in children with a history of Lyme disease.
Conclusions:
- Appropriate antimicrobial therapy during the acute phase of Lyme disease in children appears to prevent demonstrable long-term morbidity.
- Early treatment of pediatric Lyme disease is associated with favorable long-term health outcomes.
- This study supports the efficacy of timely antibiotic intervention in mitigating chronic complications of LD in children.
Objective:
To study the outcome of Lyme disease (LD) in children identified in a total population survey of an endemic island.
Methods:
We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study off the coast of Massachusetts. Twenty-five children who met the Centers for Disease Control case definition for prior LD were compared with 26 children without LD from the same community. All children with LD received antibiotics during the acute phase of their disease. All 51 children were invited for a clinical evaluation, including 12-lead electrocardiogram (EKG), and measurement of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi by antibody-capture ELISA and Western blot.
Results:
At a mean of 3.2 years from the initial manifestation of LD, children with prior LD did not have a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal or neurological symptoms, examination abnormalities, abnormal EKG, or behavioral difficulties, compared to children with no history of LD.
Conclusion:
Children who receive appropriate antimicrobial therapy for LD appear to have no demonstrable longterm morbidity.