The Lyme Disease Vaccine: Conception, Development, and Implementation

18 April 2000 | Volume 132 Issue 8 | Pages 661-668

In the past 20 years, remarkable strides have been made toward understanding and preventing Lyme disease in humans. In December 1998, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a recombinant outer surface protein A vaccine against Lyme disease (LYMErix, SmithKline Beecham, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). The vaccine, which is derived from a lipidated outer surface protein of the causative spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, is important because it may decrease the morbidity and financial costs associated with Lyme disease. Its mechanism is unique because it works inside the tick vector itself, preventing the human from becoming infected.

Author and Article Information

From Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.

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Dr. Schoen: Section of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 60 Temple Street, Suite 6A, New Haven, CT 06510.