Vaccination against Lyme borreliosis

Lyme borreliosis is a worldwide family of tick-borne infections caused by t he spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu late. It is the most common tick-b orne human infection in the Western world. There are several subgroups of t he spirochete. Two monovalent vaccines against this infection have been pre sented in the USA, both of which use the borrelial outer surface protein A (OspA) as antigen. The first of these vaccines has been released for genera l use. A European polyvalent vaccine using the antigen OspC is undergoing c linical trial in the Aland Islands in Finland. Lately, another antigen grou p, decorin-binding proteins (Dbp), has been considered for immunization pur poses. A European vaccine must be effective against several subgroups of th e borrelia spirochete, and this complicates the situation compared with tha t in the USA, where one spirochete subspecies dominates the scene.