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Long-Term Antibiotics Won't Fight Lyme Disease
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SUNDAY, Oct. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Long-term antibiotic treatment of people with Lyme disease has not proven to be effective, and use of the drugs for more than four weeks may even be dangerous, according to new expert guidelines. The updated Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment guidelines were released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). The guidelines also note that 95 percent of cases of Lyme disease are cured within 10 to 28 days of treatment with oral antibiotics. Major changes in the guidelines, originally published in 2002, include:
The updated guidelines are expected to be available shortly on the IDSA Web site at http://www.idsociety.org and to be published in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. "We worked to make the guidelines as comprehensive as possible based on a thorough review of all credible scientific literature," lead author Dr. Gary P. Wormser, chief of the division of infectious diseases and vice chairman of the department of medicine at New York Medical College, said in a prepared statement. Wormser was chair of the expert panel that developed the updated guidelines. Lyme disease is transmitted by the black-legged deer tick. The disease has been reported across the United States, but the majority of cases occur in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states. More information The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about Lyme disease.
Last Updated: Oct. 23, 2006 Copyright © 2006 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved. |