Question reference: S5W-20278
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 29 November 2018
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Current status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 7 December 2018
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have Lyme disease.
Answer
Health Protection Scotland (HPS) publish numbers of laboratory confirmed cases of Borrelia burgdorferi as part of the annual surveillance report on Zoonotic disease in Scotland. The most recent report can be accessed here: https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/resourcedocument.aspx?id=6891
These numbers are likely to underestimate the total number of cases of Lyme disease because current guidance recommends that health care professionals treat patients presenting with the erythema migrans rash immediately with antibiotics, without requiring laboratory testing.
It should be noted that the data in the report for 2017 is provisional. The total number of laboratory confirmed cases of Borrelia burgdorferi in 2017 is 167.