US Incurs Up to $1 Billion in Costs Annually From Lyme Disease: Study

Nearly half a million Lyme disease cases are diagnosed and treated annually in the country.

A blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick, a carrier of Lyme disease. CDC via AP

Lyme disease results in costs of up to $1 billion per year in the United States, posing a “large financial burden” on the health care system and patients, according to a peer-reviewed study published Jan. 14 in the JAMA Network Open journal.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection commonly spread via the bite of infected ticks. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, 89,470 Lyme disease cases were reported in the United States in 2023, the highest since 1996.

New York reported the highest number of cases, followed by Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.

For the analysis, researchers collected data of 70,531 patients who were diagnosed with the illness between January 2016 and December 2022, and had at least 14 months of continuous enrollment in health plans.

Costs incurred by patients were assessed based on two Lyme disease types—localized and disseminated.

In a localized infection, Lyme disease affects a single part of the body, whereas in disseminated disease it spreads to other parts. Among the patients, over 65 percent had localized disease, and more than 22 percent had disseminated illness.

Overall, case patients incurred mean direct medical costs of $2,227 per episode of Lyme disease, according to the study. For individuals with the localized version, the cost was $695, which rose to $6,833 for the disseminated.

As for out-of-pocket medical expenses, the mean cost per episode of illness was $188. The cost for patients with localized illness was $107, and for those with disseminated disease was $401.

Researchers extrapolated per-episode costs and other expenses to determine the total cost of Lyme disease (LD) to the nation.

“The results suggested that total LD health care costs could range from $591 million to $1.05 billion (2022 dollars), with $411 to $771 million attributable to disseminated disease,” according to the study.

“Across analyses, case patients with disseminated disease had higher total health care costs attributed to LD than those with localized disease. Although 22.4 percent of case patients were classified as having disseminated disease, they accounted for 68.9 percent of total LD-specific direct health care costs in the episode-level analysis.”

An estimated 476,000 Lyme disease cases are diagnosed and treated in the United States every year, with the illness mainly occurring in 15 states and Washington, D.C.

Researchers warned that costs are expected to increase in the future due to the continued geographic expansion of the disease. As such, there is a need for effective prevention measures to cut down costs for patients and the health care system.

The study was funded by pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Valneva. Multiple researchers declared conflicts of interest, including employment at Pfizer during the study period. Pfizer and Valneva are currently co-developing a Lyme disease vaccine.

According to a May 2024 CDC report, early signs and symptoms of Lyme disease include fever, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, rashes at the site of the bite, and chills. These can exhibit three to 30 days after a tick bite.

Later symptoms that occur days to months after a bite include severe headache, rashes on other areas of the body, irregular heartbeats, intermittent pain in tendons and joints, nerve pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, and arthritis with severe joint pain and swelling.

“Seek medical attention if you observe any of these symptoms and have recently had a tick bite, live in an area known for Lyme disease, or have recently traveled to an area where Lyme disease occurs,” the agency advised.

In a July 2024 report, the Food and Drug Administration recommended several ways people can prevent Lyme disease.

“Avoid wooded, brushy, and grassy areas, especially during warmer months (April–September), although tick exposure can occur anytime,” according to the FDA.

“Treat clothing and gear with products containing 0.5 percent permethrin (cat owners should be very careful using these products as they are highly toxic to cats),” it said.

“Apply insect repellents on uncovered skin, and ensure the products are registered by the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Like Lyme disease, other illnesses also cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars annually, according to an Aug. 8 post from the CDC that cited various reports.

Diabetes is estimated to have cost $413 billion in medical expenses and lost productivity in 2022. The cost of care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is calculated to have been $360 billion in 2024. For cancer, annual care costs are expected to hit over $240 billion by 2030.