Time trend of clinical cases of Lyme disease in two hospitals in Belgium, 2000\u20132013

Mathilde De Keukeleire,Benoît Kabamba,Sophie O Vanwambeke,Philippe Pierre,Leila Belkhir,Victor Luyasu,Annie Robert

doi:10.1186/s12879-017-2841-7

Mathilde De Keukeleire, Benoît Kabamba + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-017-2841-7

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Abstract

BackgroundAs several studies indicated an increase in Lyme disease (LD), notably in neighbouring countries, concerns have arisen regarding the evolution of Lyme disease in Belgium. In order to confirm or infirm the increase of LD in Belgium, we focused on hospital admissions of patients diagnosed with LD between 2000 and 2013 based on hospital admission databases from two hospitals in Belgium.MethodsHospital databases are a stable recording system. We did a retrospective analysis of the medical files of patients hospitalized with Lyme disease in two Belgian hospitals between 2000 and 2013.ResultsThe annual number of cases of LD for the two studied Belgian hospitals remained stable between 2000 and 2013, ranging from 1 for the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc to 15 for the the Clinique Saint-Pierre. No increasing trend were noted in the estimated annual incidence rate but the average estimated annual incidence rate was higher for the hospital Saint-Pierre (8.1 ± 3.7 per 100,000 inhabitants) than Saint-Luc (2.2 ± 1.5 per 100,000 inhabitants). The number of hospital cases of LD peaked between June and November.ConclusionsBased on hospital admissions with LD, no increasing trend was observed for the period 2000–2013 in the two studied Belgian hospitals. This is in line with other studies carried out in Belgium.

Highlights

As several studies indicated an increase in Lyme disease (LD), notably in neighbouring countries, concerns have arisen regarding the evolution of Lyme disease in Belgium
The age distribution for Clinique Saint-Pierre (CSPO) showed a peak for young people (0–9 years) whereas the age distribution for Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc (CUSL) showed a peak for people aged of 15–19 years (Fig. 1). 28% of admitted cases in CUSL and 40% in CSPO were aged under 20 years
38.2 seasonal pattern in the two hospitals (Fig. 2). This number peaked between June and November: 60% and 84% of admissions in CUSL and in CSPO were recorded between June and November, respectively

Summary

Introduction

As several studies indicated an increase in Lyme disease (LD), notably in neighbouring countries, concerns have arisen regarding the evolution of Lyme disease in Belgium. Called Lyme disease (LD), is the most-common tick-borne human disease in the Northern hemisphere [1, 2]. LD is a multisystemic disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) which is transmitted to humans during the blood feeding of a Ixodes tick infected with Bb [3, 4]. The clinical manifestations of LD may vary according to the genospecies involved all pathogenic genospecies may cause erythema migrans (EM), a typical skin lesion of LD which represent 91% of Lyme borreliosis diagnosis in the Netherlands [5,6,7]. In the absence of antibiotic treatment, the spirochete can disseminate and cause early disseminated LD (5.3% of diagnosis [7]) associated with Lyme neuroborreliosis, Lyme carditis, multiple EM and borrelial lymphocytoma (skin lesion) [4, 5]. LD diagnostic is mainly based on clinical symptoms (presence of EM, facial palsy, arthritis), clinical history, and on the demonstration of a serological response to Bb, except for the early stages [8]

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