Lyme disease laboratory tests are often unnecessary

Doctors: Expensive laboratory tests for Lyme disease are often superfluous

03/22/2015

According to experts, doctors in Germany rely too often on unfounded laboratory tests for suspected Lyme disease. A detailed survey of the patient as well „view diagnostics“ would be sufficient in most cases.

Laboratory diagnostics often superfluous
According to the German Borreliosis Society put doctors in suspected Lyme disease after a tick bite (colloquially also tick bite) too often unfounded on costly laboratory tests. As the Frankfurt physician Klaus-Peter Hunfeld explained at a meeting of the society, the majority of suspected cases, a red ring on the skin as the most important symptom is so obvious that laboratory diagnostics is superfluous. To the dpa news agency he said: „Eye diagnosis and a thorough questioning of the patients are sufficient.“

Tens of thousands of cases in Germany
In Germany, Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin, about 5,000 cases were recorded last year alone for eastern Germany, most of them in Brandenburg and Saxony. To date, around 250 diseases have been reported in the East in 2015. Even though there is no nationwide reporting obligation for Lyme disease, estimates of tens of thousands of cases are received annually throughout the country. For comparison, reference is made to figures from another infectious disease also transmitted by ticks: 283 cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) registered in Germany in 2014.

No vaccination against Lyme disease
In Lyme disease, bacteria (borrelia) enter the bloodstream through the bite of an infected tick. In addition to a red ring or stain around the puncture site (also called Wanderröte) include muscle and joint pain to the common symptoms. Also fatigue, night sweats and fever can occur. The disease is treated with antibiotics. A preventive vaccine against Lyme disease, unlike the virus disease FSME does not exist. If people who have been infected are not treated or not treated properly, they can develop severe and chronic symptoms.

Protect yourself from ticks
Health experts are constantly advising to protect themselves as much as possible from ticks. So you should apply during walks and hikes in forests and meadows mosquito repellent, which also acts against ticks. Even to long pants is advised and to pull the stockings over the pants legs, as an important entrance gate for the tick is down the trouser leg. After staying outdoors, it is important to thoroughly scan the body and remove ticks as soon as you find them and thoroughly disinfect the puncture site. (Ad)