Lyme Disease

Lyme disease remains a subject of considerable public and clinical interest, and misunderstandings about Lyme borreliosis continue to cause widespread concern about potential long-term disability. Although the infection occurs primarily in highly endemic areas of Europe and North America, these areas are expanding, as global warming leads to a steady expansion of the tick vectors' habitats. In the period since the 2nd edition was published our understanding of the biology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of this infection have continued to evolve. Many of these important advances have been clarified in a new US joint clinical guideline by the Infectious Diseases Society of America, American Academy of Neurology and American College of Rheumatology. The new edition of the book also: - Updates knowledge of the reservoir hosts, competent vectors and the necessary vector-human interactions required to make infection possible. - Explains new approaches that improve accurate laboratory diagnosis. - Elaborates on the clinical manifestations that may or may not be indicative of infection. - Updates treatment recommendations. - Considers multiple dimensions of symptoms occurring in patients who have had Lyme disease. This volume is intended for all medical practitioners who will need to consider this infection in the differential diagnosis of the patients they treat. Alongside an overview of the disease and its pathology, focused chapters explain the cutaneous, rheumatologic and neurologic manifestations. The book further emphasizes how to differentiate between neurobehavioral symptoms commonly misattributed to Lyme neuroborreliosis and disorders actually associated with nervous system infection - a differentiation informed by considerable new data in recent years.