The conflict on posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome: A clinical mini review

Abstract

Is Borrelia burgdorferi responsible for the persistence of symptoms after the standard successful course of antibiotics in Lyme disease patients? This highly controversial issue, concerning the underlying mechanism of posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS), still seems to be a matter of intense conflict of opinion. PTLDS is the manifestation of nonspecific symptoms including fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, dysesthesias, and neurocognitive deterioration after the standard antimicrobial therapy administered to patients suffering from Lyme disease. In this article, we review the conflicting views and published highlights of recent human studies regarding PTLDS.