The Article in Brief

Each year, approximately 2.8 million tests are done in the United States to detect Lyme disease, a bacterial infection spread by ticks. Early testing based on a tick bite or potential exposure to ticks is often not effective or accurate. A recent study found that 20% of Lyme disease tests were appropriate and at least 27% were not appropriate. In more than one half of the inappropriate tests, the patient did not show symptoms of the disease. Most inappropriate tests were initiated by physicians. Almost 40% of the tests requested by patients were inappropriate.