Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of best practice for the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of Lyme disease in the (i) United States and (ii) Germany.

The Government has not conducted an assessment of the adequacy of National Health Service capability and capacity to diagnose Lyme disease or a comparative assessment of best practice in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease in the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany. Diagnosis of Lyme disease in England and Wales is conducted by the Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL). RIPL provides Lyme polymerase chain reaction PCR testing and a comprehensive serological panel which has been fully validated to UK Accreditation Service standards.

Published research, for example the VICTORY study in Lancet ID, indicates that cellular tests for Lyme borreliosis used by many private laboratories in Europe have a high false positive rate. A copy of the VICTORY study in Lancet ID, is available at the following link: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00205-5.)

UK Health Security Agency published accompanying guidance documents on Lyme disease in July 2018, which describe the clinical signs and symptoms and are consistent with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance. The guidance is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/lyme-disease-management-and-prevention

Services for the treatment of Lyme disease are commissioned locally. These services are the responsibility of integrated care board and general practitioners use their professional judgement in diagnosing and treating this condition.