Table 1.
Proportion of Lyme disease (LD) patients that were aware of a tick bite prior to the onset of symptoms
| Study population | Proportion LD patients aware of a tick bite |
No. aware of tick bite / total no. LD patients |
Note from study description | Year(s) of study | Study location | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recall of tick bite | ||||||
| Children and adults | 0.14 | 34 / 237 | Aware of having been bitten by a deer tick. | 1981–1987 | Multiple communities, NY | Berger 1989 |
| Children and adults | 0.22 | 32 / 144 | Tick bite known to physician treating patient. | 1990–1991 | Multiple communities, MD | Jung et al. 1994 |
| Children and adults | 0.31 | 97 / 314 | Recall of a tick bite. | 1976–1982 | Multiple communities, CT | Steere et al. 1983 |
| Children and adults | 0.40 | 274 / 679 | Recalled tick bite prior to illness onset. | 1983–1984 | Multiple communities, NY | Benach and Coleman 1987 |
| Children and adults | 0.41 | 87 / 210 | Recall of a definite tick bite. | 1982–1983 | Westchester Co., NY | Williams et al. 1986 |
| Children and adults | 0.44 | 19 / 43 | Remembered having been bitten by a tick within 3 mo before the illness. | 1977 | Multiple communities, CT | Steere et al. 1978 |
| Children and adults | 0.49 | 40 / 82 | Recalled a tick bite (early Lyme disease). | 1985–1987 | Upper Midwest | Agger et al. 1991 |
| Children and adults | 0.63 | 60 / 95 | Definitely been bitten by one or more ticks. | 1981–1982 | Monmouth Co., NJ | Bowen et al. 1984 |
| Children and adults | 0.67 | 10 / 15 | Recalled tick bite. | 1982 | Fire Island, NY | Hanrahan et al. 1984 |
| Children | 0.36 | 47 / 132 | Recognized a tick bite within the preceding month. | 1992–1993 | Multiple communities, CT | Gerber et al. 1996 |
| Children | 0.49 | 44 / 90 | Reported a tick bite before the onset of symptoms. | 1982–1983 | Westchester Co., NY | Williams et al. 1990 |
| Recall of tick bite at the erythema migrans rash site | ||||||
| Children and adults | 0.10 | 5 / 51 | Recalled a prior tick bite at the rash site. | 1993 | Hunterdon Co., NJ | Orloski et al. 1998 |
| Children and adults | 0.21 | 9 / 43 | Remembered having been bitten by a tick at the site of the initial lesion before its onset. | 1977 | Multiple communities, CT | Steere et al. 1978 |
| Children and adults | 0.25 | 20 / 79 | Recalled tick bite at primary erythema migrans site. | 1991–1993 | Westchester Co., NY | Nadelman et al. 1996 |
| Children | 0.22 | 22 / 132 | Recognized a tick bite at the site of the erythema migrans within the preceding month. | 1992–1993 | Multiple communities, CT | Gerber et al. 1996 |
| Children | 0.52 | 24 / 46 | Remembered a tick bite at the site of the skin lesion. | 1976–1979 | Multiple communities, CT | Szer et al. 1991 |
| Adults | 0.20 | 20 / 101 | Recalled tick bite at skin-lesion site. | 2001–2003 | Multiple communities, NY | Wormser et al. 2005 |