Prospective Assessment of Lyme Disease in a School-Aged Population in Connecticut

Abstract

To determine the incidence and cumulative frequency of Lyme disease in a school-aged population in an area in which Lyme disease is endemic, serum specimens were obtained before and after the 1990–1992 tick seasons from 410 middle and high school students in southeastern Connecticut. Sera were tested for serologic evidence of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, and students were questioned about physician-eonfirmed episodes of clinical Lyme disease. At enrollment, 29 (7%) students had a history of Lyme disease, and of these, 12 (41%) were seropositive for B. burgdorferi infection. Seronegative students (397) were followed prospectively over a total of 796 person years. At enrollment, 381 students (93%) had no history of Lyme disease, and of these, 1 (0.3%) was seropositive. During this period, 8 students developed clinical Lyme disease and 3 had asymptomatic infections with B. burgdorferi. The incidences of clinical Lyme disease and asymptomatic B. burgdorferi infection were 10.1 and 3.8 cases/1000 person-years, respectively. Lyme disease is an important health problem in school-aged children living in southeastern Connecticut.