New guidance to diagnose and treat Lyme disease

New guidance, published by NICE, will help UK health professionals spot a potential diagnosis of Lyme disease, without the need for tests.

Lyme disease is caused and spread through an infected tick bite, affecting approximately 3,000 people a year in the UK.

The new draft guidance recommends that doctors diagnose and treat Lyme disease with antibiotics, but warns that doctors should not diagnose Lyme disease simply if a person has been bitten by a tick but has no other symptoms.

One of the signs of Lyme disease is a circular red rash, known as erythema migrans.

Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive, said: “Lyme disease is easy to treat. However, if left undiagnosed, it can lead to more serious symptoms. This can include heart problems, arthritis and problems affecting the nervous system, for example, weakness on one side of the face. We want people to be diagnosed early so they get the right treatment as soon as possible. This is why our draft guidance makes a clear set of recommendations on when to diagnose Lyme disease, and when to rule it out.”

Saul Faust, chair of the guideline committee, added: “Lyme disease may be difficult to diagnose as people can have common and unspecific symptoms, like a headache or fever, and they may not notice or remember a tick bite. Our draft guidance will give GPs and hospital doctors clear advice on how to diagnose if they think Lyme disease is a possibility.”