"Chronic Lyme disease"

There has recently been a lot of focus on Lyme disease in the media, with much attention on people who've been diagnosed with "chronic Lyme disease".

This term has been used by some people to describe persistent symptoms such as tiredness, aches and pains, usually in the absence of a confirmed Lyme disease infection. It's different to "post-infectious Lyme disease" (see above), which is used to describe persistent symptoms after a confirmed and treated infection.

It's important to be aware that a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease is controversial. Experts do not agree on whether the condition exists, or whether the symptoms are actually caused by a different, undiagnosed problem.

In either case, there's no evidence to suggest people diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease can pass the condition on to others, and there's little clear evidence about how best to treat it.

Content supplied by the NHS Website

Medically Reviewed by a doctor on 21 Dec 2018