Practices of Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment by general practitioners in Quebec, 2008-2015

BMC Family Practice
Salima GasmiKarine Thivierge

Abstract

Lyme disease (LD), a multisystem infection caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (B. burgdorferi), is the most reported vector-borne disease in North America, and by 2020, 80% of the population in central and eastern Canada could live in LD risk areas. Among the key factors for minimising the impact of LD are the accurate diagnosis and appropriate management of patients bitten by ticks. In this study, the practices of Quebec general practitioners (GPs) on LD diagnosis and management of patients bitten by infected ticks are described. Eight years (2008 to 2015) of retrospective demographic and clinical data on patients bitten by infected Ixodes scapularis (I. scapularis) ticks and on the management of suspected and confirmed LD cases by Quebec GPs were analysed. Among 50 patients, all the antimicrobial treatments of LD clinical cases were appropriate according to current guidelines. However, more than half (62.8%) of erythema migrans (EM) were possibly misdiagnosed, 55.6%, (n = 27) of requested serologic tests were possibly unnecessary and the majority (96.5%, n = 57) of prophylactic antimicrobial treatments were not justified according to current guidelines. These observations underline the importance for ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 17, 2018·The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy·Allison M Dering-Anderson, Alex J Adams
Jul 11, 2020·Parasites & Vectors·T Joseph Mattingly, Kalpana Shere-Wolfe
Jun 30, 2019·BMC Public Health·N H OgdenD Webster
Oct 18, 2018·Healthcare·Vett K Lloyd, Ralph G Hawkins
Aug 11, 2019·Healthcare·Emilie M GaudetVett Lloyd
Mar 30, 2021·Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases·Anna T NesgosEmily M Mader

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
PCR

Software Mentioned

SPSS

Related Concepts