Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people suffered from Lyme disease in each of the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of tests available for this disease.

The total number of people with laboratory diagnosed Lyme disease in each of the last four years is listed in the table below. It is only since 2010 that hospital laboratories are required to report positive diagnoses of Lyme disease to public health authorities. Data are available only up to 2013, as 2014 data is currently being processed.

These laboratory data are collated by Public Health England (PHE) and published regularly.

Tests in the National Health Service and at the national centre at Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL) of PHE are carried out to internationally recognised standards and are used in other national laboratories across Europe. These tests have been validated over many years in clinics across Europe and have proved very reliable for diagnosing Lyme disease, except in the early stages of the rash, when clinical diagnosis is used.

RIPL participates in an international External Quality Assurance programme, exchanges samples for quality control with the Scottish reference laboratory, and reviews new tests and alternative test modalities on an on-going basis.