Lyme Disease Cases Rose By Almost 70% in the U.S.

NEW YORK — Lyme illness circumstances within the U.S. jumped practically 70% in 2022, which well being officers say just isn’t because of a serious improve of latest infections however as a substitute a change in reporting necessities.

Reported circumstances surpassed 62,000 in 2022, after averaging about 37,000 a yr from 2017 by 2019, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention mentioned in a report launched Thursday. Numbers for 2023 shall be launched later this yr.

Lyme illness is the commonest tick-borne an infection within the U.S., occurring largely within the Northeast, Midwest and mid-Atlantic states.

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An estimated 476,000 Individuals are identified with it annually, however solely a fraction are formally reported.

Historically, well being departments obtained constructive lab checks and went again to physician’s places of work to assemble extra details about the sufferers. However reporting fell off in 2020 and 2021 when well being division staffers had been busy engaged on COVID-19.

Beginning in 2022, all that’s required to report circumstances—at the very least in high-incidence states—is a constructive lab check. It’s doable that higher, extra delicate testing is getting used extra and that will have contributed to the rise, but it surely’s too early to inform, CDC officers mentioned.