Background:
We compared epidemiological and clinical characteristics
of patients with erythema migrans (EM) caused by
Borrelia afzelii and
Borrelia garinii.Patients and
Methods:
200 consecutive adult patients with
B. afzelii isolated from the
skin lesion and 53 consecutive adult patients with EM caused by
B. garinii qualified for the
present study.Results:
Comparison of the two groups revealed several
distinctions. Patients with EM caused by B. garinii were older, had their skin
lesions more often located on the trunk but less often on
extremities, had shorter incubation and faster evolution of EM,
more often reported associated local and certain systemic
symptoms, had abnormal liver function test results more often
and were more frequently seropositive.Conclusion:
Early localized Lyme borreliosis caused by
B. afzelii and
B. garinii has distinct
epidemiological and clinical characteristics. Clinical features
of EM depend upon the genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato causing
the illness.