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Neurology 1999;53:1340
© 1999 American Academy of Neurology

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Brief Communications

Absence of Borrelia burgdorferi–specific immune complexes in chronic fatigue syndrome

Steven E. Schutzer, MD and Benjamin H. Natelson, MD

From the Departments of Medicine and Neurosciences, University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Steven E. Schutzer, UMDNJ Dept. of Medicine, 185 South Orange Ave., Newark, NJ 07103; e-mail: schutzer{at}umdnj.edu

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and Lyme disease often share clinical features, especially fatigue, contributing to concern that Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), the cause of Lyme disease, may underlie CFS symptoms. We examined 39 CFS patients and 40 healthy controls with a Bb immune complex test. Patients and controls were nonreactive. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–defined CFS patients lacking antecedent signs of Lyme disease—erythema migrans, Bell’s palsy, or large joint arthritis—are not likely to have laboratory evidence of Bb infection.

Key words: Lyme disease—Borrelia burgdorferi—Chronic fatigue syndrome—Antigen–antibody complex.