Prevalence and Incidence of Lyme disease

Lyme disease: Rare Disease

Lyme disease is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Lyme disease, or a subtype of Lyme disease, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.

Incidence (annual) of Lyme disease:

estimated 100,000 cases annually (NIAID/USA) ... see also overview of Lyme disease.

Incidence Rate:

approx 1 in 2,719 or 0.04% or 100,000 people in USA [Source statistic for calcuation: "estimated 100,000 cases annually (NIAID/USA)" -- see also general information about data sources]

Incidence extrapolations for USA for Lyme disease:

100,000 per year, 8,333 per month, 1,923 per week, 273 per day, 11 per hour, 0 per minute, 0 per second. [Source statistic for calculation: "estimated 100,000 cases annually (NIAID/USA)" -- see also general information about data sources]

Prevalance of Lyme disease:

In 1999, 16,273 cases of Lyme disease were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Source: excerpt from CDC Lyme Disease Home Page: DVBID)

Prevelance of Lyme disease discussion:

Lyme disease is the leading cause of vector-borne infectious illness in the U.S. with about 15,000 cases reported annually, though the disease is greatly underreported. Over 125,000 cases have been reported since 1982. Based on reported cases, during the past ten years 90% of cases of Lyme disease occurred in ten states:

Incidence of Lyme disease:

Approximately 12,500 new cases were diagnosed in 1997. (Source: excerpt from Stories of Discovery Lyme Disease Vaccine Preventing an Emerging Disease: NIAID)

Incidence statistics for Lyme disease:

The following statistics relate to the incidence of Lyme disease:

• 16,273 annual cases notified in USA 1999 (MMWR 1999)
• 17,730 new cases in the USA 2000 (CDC)
• more statistics...»

About prevalence and incidence statistics:

The term 'prevalence' of Lyme disease usually refers to the estimated population of people who are managing Lyme disease at any given time. The term 'incidence' of Lyme disease refers to the annual diagnosis rate, or the number of new cases of Lyme disease diagnosed each year. Hence, these two statistics types can differ: a short-lived disease like flu can have high annual incidence but low prevalence, but a life-long disease like diabetes has a low annual incidence but high prevalence. For more information see about prevalence and incidence statistics.

Search Specialists by State and City