Seven years of blood-based Lyme disease testing

7 Years of Blood-Based Lyme Disease Testing

Seven Years of Blood-Based Lyme Disease Testing

0.5 CME. Many clinicians based diagnostic decisions on their assessment as to the likelihood that a patient has Lyme disease. Most consider epidemiologic data that is derived from surveillance case reports. However, this may underestimate risk for patients that reside in what has been considered traditionally low incidence states. This presentation documents the changing geographic demographics of the illness and clinicians in some areas of the country may need to reconsider how they assess a patient’s risk of Lyme disease.

Instructor

Elizabeth Lee-Lewandrowski, PhD, MPH
Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School

Description

Many clinicians based diagnostic decisions on their assessment as to the likelihood that a patient has Lyme disease. Most consider epidemiologic data that is derived from surveillance case reports. However, this may underestimate risk for patients that reside in what has been considered traditionally low incidence states. This presentation documents the changing geographic demographics of the illness and clinicians in some areas of the country may need to reconsider how they assess a patient’s risk of Lyme disease.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to describe the relative frequency of Lyme disease (LD) cases reported to the CDC across different regions of the United States
Participants will be able to describe the CDC criteria for the laboratory case definition of LD and the limitations of currently available testing
Participants will be able to describe trends in the frequency of LD cases over time and the changing national epidemiologic demographics of LD across different regions

Accreditation Statement

This session, 7 years of blood-based Lyme disease testing, is approved for 0.5 enduring AAFP Prescribed credits.

The AAFP has reviewed VectorWise CME, and deemed it acceptable for AAFP credit. Term of approval is from 05/15/2025 to 05/14/2026. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

AAFP Prescribed credit is accepted by the American Medical Association as equivalent to AMA PRA Category 1 credit(s)™ toward the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award. When applying for the AMA PRA, Prescribed credit earned must be reported as Prescribed, not as Category 1.

Evidence-based bibliography for further study

• Hinckley A, Neeta C, Meek J, Johnson B. Kemperman M, Feldman K, White J, Mead P. Lyme disease testing by large commercial laboratories in the United States. Clin Infec Disease 2014;59:676-681

• Rudolf J, Baron J, Branda J, Lee-Lewandrowski E. Laboratory testing for tick-borne infections in a large Northeastern academic medical center: a ten-year experience. Amer J Clin Pathol 2018;150:415-420

• Lee-Lewandrowski E, Chen Z, Branda J, Baron J, Kaufman H. Laboratory blood-based testing for Lyme Disease at a national reference laboratory. Amer J Clin Pathol 2019;152:91-96

About the Instructor

Elizabeth Lee-Lewandrowski, PhD, MPH

Research Director, VectorWise CME

Dr. Lee-Lewandrowski is an Assistant Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Research Faculty and a Clinical Laboratory Scientist in Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is also an associate editor of the journal Point of Care and serves as VectorWise CME’s Research Director. She received her PhD in Chemistry from Brown University and a Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.