Underreporting of Lyme Disease

Abstract

To the Editor: Lyme disease, the most common vector-borne disease in the United States, became a nationally notifiable disease in 1991. From 1982 to 1996, a total of 89,169 cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).1 In 1994, 1995, and 1996, record numbers of cases (13,043, 11,700, and 16,461 cases, respectively) were reported, predominantly in the Northeast. There is concern that the actual number of cases is much higher, because of considerable underreporting in the current passive surveillance system. For other notifiable diseases, only 5 to 60 percent of cases are actually reported.2,3 The . . .