Focus on patients receiving long-term antimicrobial treatments for lyme borreliosis: No lyme but mostly mental disorders

Abstract

ObjectivesOverdiagnosis of lyme borreliosis leads to unnecessary and increasingly common antimicrobial treatments. We aimed to evaluate patients receiving long-term antimicrobial treatment for lyme borreliosis. MethodsWe included patients referred to a Parisian teaching hospital between January 1st, 2014 and June 30th, 2019, with a presumed diagnosis of lyme borreliosis for which they were treated with antimicrobials for at least 6 months. ResultsFifteen patients were included (11 women and mean age 44 years). The mean antimicrobial treatment duration was 476 days (180–942). The mean number of antimicrobials was 6.8 per patient (1–18). None of the 15 patients had lyme borreliosis. Nine patients were diagnosed with a mental disorder. ConclusionOverdiagnosis and overtreatment of lyme borreliosis put patients at risk of undiagnosed illnesses and multiple adverse effects of unjustified treatments. The clinical management of such patients requires a comprehensive approach including expertise in mental disorders.