Misdiagnosis of Lyme Disease

Misdiagnosis of Reference Lyme disease Opens New Window is common.

The bacteria that cause the illness are hard to detect with current lab tests.

• People often test positive for Lyme disease when in fact they have a different Reference bacterial illness Opens New Window.
• People may test positive because they were infected with the Lyme disease bacteria at some point during their lives, but the infection may not be active and may not cause any illness.
• People may test negative when they actually have been infected.

Symptoms of Lyme disease sometimes closely resemble those of other illnesses.

• Chronic Lyme disease, for instance, has symptoms very similar to those of several other chronic illnesses, such as Reference juvenile idiopathic arthritis Opens New Window, Reference fibromyalgia Opens New Window, and Reference chronic fatigue syndrome Opens New Window.
• Reference Multiple sclerosis Opens New Window and Reference arthritis Opens New Window also have symptoms similar to Lyme disease.

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