Comparison of Erythema Migrans Caused by Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii

Abstract

Early localized Lyme borreliosis caused by B. afzelii and B. garinii has distinct epidemiological and clinical characteristics. Clinical features of EM depend upon the genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato causing the illness.

Erythema migrans nach Infektion durch Borrelia afzelii oder Borrelia garinii: Abhängigkeit des klinischen Erscheinungsbildes vom Geschlecht der Patienten

“…In the present study the frequency of systemic symptoms was less than reported in the USA, but was similar to other European studies (8,24 infected by B. garinii were more likely to have fever, faster-developing and faster-spreading EM lesions and raised levels of CRP and were more likely to be seropositive, all indicating that infections caused by B. garinii are more virulent than those caused by B. afzelii. Our findings are supported by others (7)(8)(9).…”

“…In the present study, we found no correlation between appearance and median time from tick bite to diagnosis. Other studies have indicated that B. garinii mostly causes homogeneous EM (8,9) and that different genospecies disseminate with varying intensity, resulting in different symptoms (7,8,10,13,16 with B. afzelii (7). In our study we found that EM caused by B. garinii developed faster and was more likely to be non-annular.…”

“…In culture-confirmed EM, patients bitten in the USA develop systemic symptoms and seroreactivity more often than European patients with EM caused by B. afzelii (7). Also, European patients infected by B. garinii more frequently present with flu-like symptoms than those infected with B. afzelii (8,9). EM is typically "annular" with a central clearing or "homogeneous", but atypical lesions may occur (3,(10)(11)(12).…”

“…EM is typically "annular" with a central clearing or "homogeneous", but atypical lesions may occur (3,(10)(11)(12). There has been some debate on whether the different predominant patterns reflect different genospecies or the duration of EM at presentation (8,9,13).…”

Mini Erythema Migrans – A Sign of Early Lyme Borreliosis

“…The typical primary EM is a ring-shaped or homogeneous erythematous and usually peripherally expanding skin lesion caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato[1, 2]. In Europe [1,3,4,5,6][] and in the USA [7,8,9], the median or mean maximum diameter of the primary EM varies between 10 and 20 cm with a range of 1–85 cm.…”