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Can antibiotics prevent the development of Lyme disease after a tick bite? Can they be used to treat some of its controversial late sequelae? New findings say "yes" to the first question and "no" to the second.
In the first study, 482 people (age, 12 or older) in areas endemic for Lyme who were bitten by ticks were randomized to receive a single 200-mg dose of doxycycline or placebo (after confirmation that the ticks were species capable of transmitting Lyme). Erythema migrans developed in 1 doxycycline recipient and 8 placebo recipients -- a significant difference. No patients in either group experienced other clinical manifestations of Lyme or asymptomatic seroconversion. Only bites from partially engorged nymphal ticks resulted in Lyme. S…