Symptoms can linger
DESPITE ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT
10-20% of Lyme Disease patients will develop long term symptoms despite CDC recommended treatment. These symptoms can include fatigue, musculoskeletal pains, sleep difficulties, and neurological symptoms, among others.
The cause of these long term symptoms is disputed, with some of the proposed causes being: persistent infection, lasting damage from the infection, immune dysfunction, autoimmunity, and antigenic debris (fragments of the bacteria left behind after treatment).
However, there is currently no study that shows Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme Disease, can be fully eradicated from the body.
Conversely, an abundance of evidence suggests that B. burgdorferi can persist against the CDC’s currently recommended antibiotic treatment.
Our Lyme Persists initiative is here to highlight this evidence in an easily digestible, easily shareable format, to spread awareness and help patients educate those in their lives who don’t quite understand Lyme Disease.