Lyme Borreliosis: Diagnosis and Treatment Issues

Abstract

Lyme borreliosis (LB) — the most common natural focal transmissible infection which occur in the USA, Europe, including Ukraine. It is a multisystem disease affecting the skin, heart, nervous system, joints that are prone to prolonged course. Official registration of the disease in Ukraine is being carried out since 2000. Level of epidemiological registration increases every year: LB incidence in Ukraine since 2000 for 10 years has increased 29 times, in the Dnipropetrovsk region — 12 times. The disease goes through several stages: from the appearance of the primary form — erythema migrans to the formation of chronic forms, which can lead to disability. In 25–50 % of patients, in the absence of adequate antibiotic therapy, in the early LB period we defined chronic form of the disease, especially heart failure. In this paper we present an algorithm for early diagnosis of «minor», clinically silent forms of heart disorders in LB at the early stages of the disease with the aim of rational choice of antibiotic therapy. It is shown that serological markers of LB (antibodies to IgM and IgG Borrelias) can not be used to monitor the effectiveness of therapy.