Lyme disease prevented with injection

FORT COLLINS, Colo., March 20 (UPI) -- Lyme disease may be prevented with an injection of antibiotics, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Fort Collins, Colo., said.

The CDC scientists have developed an injection that protects against two severe diseases transmitted by tick bites: Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis.

"Along the Northeastern seaboard, ticks are often co-infected with the bacteria that cause Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis," Dr. Nordin Zeidner said in a statement. "Currently, there is no vaccine to protect against either organism. We have shown that a single injection of sustained-release antibiotics can prevent both diseases in mice."

A single dose of doxycycline given orally is only 20 percent to 30 percent effective at preventing these diseases in mice.

The study, published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, found that a new formulation of doxycycline hyclate that is programmed to release the drug over a 20-day period was 100 percent effective.

"It has no adverse effect on humans and it can be programmed to release a drug over several weeks to several months," Zeidner said.