Researchers to discuss why some Lyme disease patients have persistent symptoms following treatment.

In a front-page story on Sunday, the Boston Globe (8/18, A1, Daley, 1.53M) reported that many Lyme disease sufferers and some doctors “are convinced that the bacteria that cause the disease can, especially if not caught early, evade antibiotics and the body’s immune system by burrowing into joints, the nervous system, and other tissue to wreak sustained havoc.” However, the majority of infectious disease specialists “say there is a lack of convincing evidence for this persistent infection and that a month or less of antibiotics usually knocks the disease from the body.” The Globe notes that the 13th annual international conference on Lyme and other tick-borne diseases will take place Boston this week, “and the scientists attending are scheduled to discuss research into why some treated Lyme patients remain sick.”