MaineHealth is participating in a study to find out why up to 20% of people treated for Lyme disease still have chronic symptoms.
Rob Smith, an infectious disease physician and the director of MaineHealth's Vector Borne Disease lab, says other studies on the issue have been small and haven't offered clarity.
"If there are 400,000 people a year in the United States who get Lyme disease, which is one CDC estimate, and you took 10% of that as people who might have persistent symptoms, you're dealing with a quite large group of people for whom we need to come up with better answers," Smith says.
The findings may also help patients with long Covid, he says.
The five-year study led by Tufts University will follow patients for a year, beginning from the moment they're diagnosed. Researchers will start enrolling participants next spring.
