Identification of co-infections in a cohort of patients diagnosed with Lyme Disease

Objective: Lyme disease (LD) is the most common zoonosis in most regions of the world. The disease can be difficult to diagnose due to the wide range of symptoms that patients present with. There is extensive evidence of polymicrobial infections in Ticks, but very little data on multiple infections in humans . The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of  co-infecting pathogens, and to provide data to help manage the diagnosis and treatment of each case.

Design: This was a prospective observational study of Lyme Disease and co-infections.

Setting: The study was conducted at a private Infectious Disease clinic in Dublin Ireland and approved  by the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital Research Ethics committee.

Participants: Blood samples were taken prior to a first consultation from a group of 54 patients with suspected Lyme disease during the period 8/12/2016 to 7/2/2017. Samples were tested for a group of infections at ArminLabs, Augsburg, Germany.

Res...