COVID Impacts on Lyme Disease Reporting

In a new study published by the CDC, Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Reported Lyme Disease, United States, 2020, authors describe how the impacts of COVID-19 might have influenced Lyme disease case reporting in 2020. Investigators explored 4 data sources to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced reporting of Lyme disease cases in 2020. Surveys that were conducted indicate that residents in the United States spent more time in the outdoors in 2020 than in 2019, but that reports of tick bite–related ER visits and Lyme disease laboratory tests were fewer. Authors indicate that although outdoor exposures were higher, case reporting for Lyme disease in 2020 may have been “artificially reduced” due to changes in people’s medical care seeking behavior in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, many health departments were limited in resources to investigate Lyme disease case reports in 2020 due to the increased workload created by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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