CLINICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL FEATURES OF LYME DISEASE IN THE NOVGOROD REGION

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease of the forest zone of the Northern hemisphere of the planet, which is characterized by polymorphism of clinical forms of the infectious process. The polysystemic nature of lesions, the complexity of specific diagnosis and the lack of information to the public and primary care physicians make it difficult to verify the diagnosis and often lead to late diagnosis and the development of irreversible functional disorders. The aim of the study is to study the clinical and epidemiological features of Lyme disease in the Novgorod region. Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of the epidemic situation in the morbidity of the population of the Novgorod region and a retrospective analysis of the medical histories of hospitalized patients diagnosed with Lyme disease in the Novgorod Regional Infectious Diseases Hospital for the period 2013-2023 were carried out. The results obtained. The high incidence of Lyme disease in the Novgorod region determines a special wariness towards this disease. The number of ticks in nature increases annually (the average number of ticks in nature in 2023 was 1,9 ex/km, and in 2013 – 1,2 ex/km), which is directly related to an increase in the average climatic temperature. Lyme disease is a seasonal disease, and people of retirement age are most often infected. In 90% of cases, patients do not know about the danger of this disease, the possibility of its transition to a chronic form and do not go to medical institutions for specific emergency prevention. The most vulnerable places of tick suction are the abdomen and the inner surface of the shoulder. According to the clinical picture, the erythemic form of the disease prevailed (70,7%), the febrile form (20,3%) and the meningeal form (8,98%) were less common. The majority of patients are admitted to the hospital with early manifestations of the disease by the type of localized erythema. In 94,5% of cases, the diagnosis was confirmed by ELISA, in 8,98% by PCR. In 100% of cases, patients received antibacterial therapy. No complications were detected.