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Johns Hopkins SLICE early-Lyme cohort (Aucott/Rebman)

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Design notes & limitations. Prospective inception cohort of ideally-treated early Lyme disease with a non-Lyme comparison group and a bio-repository, designed specifically to estimate the incidence of post-treatment Lyme disease. Functionally-impairing persistent symptoms occurred in 14% of treated patients vs 4% of controls, giving a rigorous denominator for PTLD that most Lyme literature lacks.

Identity & trigger

Cohort id
aucott-slice-ptlds
Aliases
Study of Lyme Immunology and Clinical Events (SLICE)
Outbreak / event
n/r
Pathogen
Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease) (Bacterium)
Exposure ascertainment
clinical diagnosis

Design

Design
Prospective (inception)
Denominator defined
Yes
Denominator method
Patients with physician-diagnosed early Lyme disease (erythema migrans), ideally treated, enrolled at diagnosis; a group of endemic-area participants without Lyme disease serves as the comparison.
Recruitment
outpatient clinic
Time zero
Diagnosis and antibiotic treatment of early Lyme disease (week)
Control group
Healthy convenience

Size & attrition

Enrolled
234
Analysed / enrolled
234/234 (100%)
Max follow-up (months)
12

Biospecimens

Specimens
Yes
Types
serum, plasma, pbmc
Acute-phase specimens
Yes
Biobank
active
External access
collaboration only

Observations (1)

Functional outcomes

14% Proportion

Measure
Impaired quality of life func:qol-impairment
As worded
“functionally-impairing persistent symptoms (post-treatment Lyme disease) after ideal treatment of early Lyme disease vs non-Lyme controls”
Population
whole cohort · denominator Assessed at timepoint · N=n=234
Timing
12 mo (6-12 mo) · ref Not reported
Method
Unclear · Short Form-36 Health Survey
Comparator
Healthy convenience: 4%
Comparability signature
662d1f3667 — measure func:qol-impairment · Unclear · ref Not reported · denom Assessed at timepoint · 6-12 mo · Proportion
Provenance
Results (14% of treated Lyme patients vs 4% of controls) · Manual · verified OSMF research-tracker (web-verified against source) on 2026-07-20

Publications

Provenance & verification

Registration
n/r
Funders
National Institutes of Health (NIAID), Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation
Related cohorts
none
Symptom-inventory scope
Targeted panel
Last verified
2026-07-20 — OSMF research-tracker (web-verified against source)