EPIDEMIOLOGY OF EUROPEAN LYME-BORRELIOSIS

Lyme borreliosis occurs throughout Europe and is particularly prevalen t in the cast. In a small proportion of untreated cases serious sequel ae may occur, but Lyme borreliosis alone does not cause death. Clinica l and serological diagnosis can still be problematic and the various g enomospecies may cause different disease manifestations as well as dif fering immunological responses. However, considerable progress has bee n made in standardising case definitions and serological testing and i nterpretation. Few countries have official reporting systems for Lyme borreliosis and most figures on incidence are extrapolated from serodi agnosis data and seroprevalence studies. Geographical variations in in cidence seem to correlate with the prevalence of infected ticks, which are mainly associated with varied deciduous forest. The complex ecolo gy of Lyme borreliosis makes it difficult to implement preventive meas ures, so improving public knowledge of risk factors and methods for pe rsonal protection remain the best option at present.