---
title: Top 22 Facts About Lyme Disease You Probably Don't Know
description: Here are the top 22 facts about Lyme disease you probably don't know. Read to find out more about Lyme disease and how it affects children and adults.
---

[GLA Blog ](https://www.globallymealliance.org/blog)

# [Top 22 Facts About Lyme Disease You Probably Don't Know](https://www.globallymealliance.org/blog/top-22-things-you-probably-dont-know-about-lyme)

 Written by [Admin at GLA](https://www.globallymealliance.org/blog/author/admin) | Nov 26, 2015 5:00:00 AM

1. Lyme is the fastest growing vector-borne disease in America. *Source: CDC 2014*  
 2. Over 329,000 new cases in US alone each year according to the CDC – that is 38 new cases each hour.  
 3. Children are at the highest risk of contracting Lyme disease, especially at ages 3-14. *Source: CDC 2013*  
 4. Tick-borne diseases have been reported in every state in the US and in 80 countries. *Source: CDC 2013*  
 5. Lyme-infected ticks have been found in NYC parks. *Source – NYC Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene, 2015*  
 6. Lyme disease can cause over 300 different symptoms.  
 7. Even when acute Lyme is treated in a timely and recommended manner, 20-30% patients will fail treatment and go on to develop chronic Lyme disease *(Source – Dr. John Aucott, SLICE I study 2008)*  
 8. The average nymph tick is smaller than a pinhead –less than one millimeter, or 0.04 inch. Yes, that is 4/100 of an inch!  
 9. Treatment of Lyme disease costs $1.3 Billion per year in the United States.* Source : Dr. John Aucott, Lyme Disease Research Foundation, 2015*  
 10. NIH funding for Lyme research is $23M; it funds only 15% of grant applications. AIDS receives 144 times more funds at $2,898M, sleep disorders – 11 times more funding at $229M and obesity 40 times at $812M. *Source – NIH funding 2013 actual.*  
 11. Studies conclude that commonly-used testing misses 55% of positive Lyme cases. *Source – Johns Hopkins University, 2015 (Coulter,et al.,J Clin Microbiol 2005;43:5080-5084).*  
 12. Research suggests that Lyme disease and other infections can be spread from mother to baby during pregnancy. *Source: CDC 2015*  
 13. Lyme disease is often referred to as “The Great Imitator”, as it can imitate symptoms of many diseases.  
 14. Average time for patient diagnosis – 2 years and more than 5 doctor visits.  
 15. Only a minority of people with Lyme disease remember a bulls-eye rash. *Source : NIH*  
 16. There are no tests to prove that a patient is cured of infection after treatment. *Source : NIH*  
 17. Health insurance often doesn’t cover the treatment for Chronic Lyme disease.  
 18. There is no approved vaccine against Lyme disease. *Source: NIH*  
 19. Tick-borne diseases can be spread by deer, squirrels, birds and mice. *Source: NIH*  
 20. Testing for Lyme may be misleading, as false-negative rates are as high as 60% in the first 2 to 4 weeks of infection. *Source: NIH*  
 21. Neurologic Lyme disease can be indistinguishable from multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, fibromyalgia and Parkinson’s disease. *Source : Harriet Kotsoris, MD*  
 22. GLA is one of the largest private supporters of Lyme disease research, dedicating over $7 Million to research to date.

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