A new Dutch study suggested that people with persistent symptoms linked to Lyme disease may not get relief from longer-term antibiotic therapy. Researchers associated with the study said that though antibiotics are the right therapy for the treatment of Lyme disease when diagnosed well in time, longer-term use is apparently ineffective against the symptoms associated with the tick-borne illness and could make the patients suffer from side effects.

Study senior researcher Dr. Bart-Jan Kullberg said, “Most patients with Lyme disease are cured after initial antibiotic therapy. But, up to 20 percent of patients report persistent symptoms, such as muscular or joint pain, fatigue or concentration problems, despite initial antibiotic therapy”.

Kullberg said that treatment of such patients with long term courses of antibiotics has been controversial. He added that earlier clinical trials didn’t show that the prolonged antibiotic treatment is beneficial for the patients with persistent symptoms caused by Lyme disease. However, the debate over the same is still on.

He said that the new study’s main conclusion is that three months of antibiotic therapy doesn’t provide extra advantages to patients suffering from constant symptoms of pain, fatigue or mental confusion. The findings of the study have appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine on March 31.

Furthermore, Kullberg said that these patients require customized care, not just an antibiotics prescription.

The debate over chronic Lyme disease has been on for the last 40 years when the illness was first discovered. Many sufferers claim that chronic Lyme is quite difficult to deal with. However, as per a number of medical experts, the symptoms might be of an undiagnosed sickness in patients.

The latest study involved 280 patients in Europe who suffered from symptoms like fatigue, muscle, joint pain, and concentration problems, and have got diagnosed with Lyme disease at some point of time in life.