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More research needed develop preventative approaches to Lyme disease

Category: Lyme Disease

In order to reduce the number of people receiving positive Lyme disease blood tests, further research must be conducted into how the infection spread and factors that affect carriers of it, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology.

For several decades, researchers have known that Lyme disease is primarily spread through contact with ticks carrying the infection. Despite knowing how it is transmitted, public health efforts to control the spread of the disease have been relatively ineffective.

In order to design more effective preventative strategies, the Colorado State University and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers who conducted the study said four things need to be done.

First, researchers should identify how many animals must be infected in a given region to spread the disease to humans. Scientists should assess how habitat diversity and forestry fragmentation affect risk. The effectiveness of past epidemiological efforts should be gauged. Finally, researchers should look at how human behaviors influence their risk of contracting the infection.

The authors of the paper said that these knowledge gaps must be filled in order to develop more effective preventative approaches to Lyme disease.