Economic Burden of Reported Lyme Disease in High-Incidence Areas, United States, 2014–2016

Abstract

L yme disease is a bacterial illness caused primarily by infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, transmitted by the bite of infected Ixodes scapularis and I. pacificus ticks in the United States. Early symptoms can include a rash known as erythema migrans and influenza-like symptoms (1). Disseminated infection can cause neurologic, musculoskeletal, and cardiac complications; in rare cases, cardiac involvement can be fatal (1-4). Most patients will experience a full recovery after antibiotic treatment, although a minority may continue to experience symptoms related to disease sequelae (1).Lyme disease case numbers consistently rank in the top 10 among all nationally notifiable conditions, and it is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the United States (4,5). Annually, >30,000 cases are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (4), but recent studies have demonstrated that the annual number of diagnosed cases is ≈476,000 (6). This figure represents a substantial disease burden, but the total economic cost to US society is unknown (7).Economic evaluations for Lyme disease have limitations (7). Most studies report direct medical costs but lack data on nonmedical costs and losses in productivity (8)(9)(10)(11). Several studies were conducted >2 decades ago in a few Maryland counties where Lyme disease was emerging (9,11,12); however, this limited scope prevents generalizability to other areas in which the disease is endemic, and results might not be representative of today's costs because of changes in disease management and healthcare structures. More recent studies have used diagnosis codes (e.g., International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification) to identify Lyme disease patients from insurance claims databases. However, the low sensitivity and specificity of these codes in identifying actual cases (13,14) might lead to incorrect estimates of direct medical costs attributable to the disease. The few studies that provide more comprehensive cost estimates of Lyme disease were conducted in Europe under healthcare systems with financing structures different from those of the United States (15-17). As such, updated estimates of the total

A rapid fluorescent plasmonic biosensor platform to diagnose Lyme disease from serum antibodies

“…Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States, infecting an estimated 476,000 people each year 1 . The causative agent is Borrelia burgdorferi, first identified in 1975.…”

Current and Future Habitat Suitability Models for Four Ticks of Medical Concern in Illinois, USA

“…These pathogen emergences are increasingly relevant as the ranges [ 4 , 5 ] and activity periods [ 4 ] of native and invasive tick species [ 3 , 6 ] shift, putting these vectors into greater contact with humans, companion animals, and livestock. Economically, changes in tick and TBD ecology are triggering millions of USD in healthcare and livestock impacts [ 7 ].…”

Current and Future Habitat Suitability Models for Four Ticks of Medical Concern in Illinois, USA

“…These pathogen emergences are increasingly relevant as the ranges (Raghavan et al 2021;Molaei et al 2022) and activity periods ) of native and invasive tick species (Paddock and Goddard 2015;Rochlin et al 2019) shift, putting these vectors into greater contact with humans, companion animals, and livestock. Economically, changes in tick and TBD ecology are triggering millions of dollars in healthcare and livestock impacts (Hook et al 2022).…”