PREGNANCY REPORTS
JAMA. 1986 Jun 27;255(24):3394-6.
Markowitz LE, Steere AC, Benach JL, Slade JD, Broome CV.
Lyme disease is an increasingly recognized tick-borne illness caused by a spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. Because the etiologic agent of Lyme disease is a spirochete, there has been concern about the effect of maternal Lyme disease on pregnancy outcome. We reviewed cases of Lyme disease in pregnant women who were identified before knowledge of the pregnancy outcomes. Nineteen cases were identified with onset between 1976 and 1984. Eight of the women were affected during the first trimester, seven during the second trimester, and two during the third trimester; in two, the trimester of onset was unknown. Thirteen received appropriate antibiotic therapy for Lyme disease. Of the 19 pregnancies, five had adverse outcomes, including syndactyly, cortical blindness, intrauterine fetal death, prematurity, and rash in the newborn. Adverse outcomes occurred in cases with infection during each of the trimesters. Although B burgdorferi could not be implicated directly in any of the adverse outcomes, the frequency of such outcomes warrants further surveillance and studies of pregnant women with Lyme disease.
Lyme and Pregnancy
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2364450/pdf/IDOG-03-256.pdf
Lyme Disease During Pregnancy
Cutis. 1991 Apr;47(4):267-8.
Schutzer SE, Janniger CK, Schwartz RA.
Department of Allergy and Immunology, New Jersey Medical School, Newark 07103-2714.
Lyme disease, caused by infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, can affect those exposed to a vector tick. Pregnant women are no exception, and such infection places the fetus at risk. It is particularly important to recognize the disease early so that effective therapy may be instituted. Although the present patient had a favorable outcome, not all do. Clinical diagnosis is especially important since conventional laboratory tests may be inadequate or require lengthy periods of time before a positive result occurs. The dermatologic sign of Lyme disease, erythema migrans, although occurring in only 50 percent of cases, is likely to be the most important diagnostic sign.
PMID: 2070648 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Dermatol Ther. 2008 May-Jun;21(3):205-9.
Dermatology Department, Charles University Prague, Czech Republic. Dermatology@fnb.cz
Syphilis and lyme borreliosis have similar etiologic, clinical, and epidemiologic characteristics. Both are multisystem infectious disorders spread worldwide. Their clinical course can be divided into three stages and as to spirochetal origin, antibiotic therapy is similar too. Taxonomical relationship of Treponema and Borrelia could explain also congenital manifestations well-known in syphilis, and suggested in borreliosis. Therapy of pregnant women with syphilis and lyme borreliosis should follow the same strategy.
PMID: 18564251 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]