In Ukraine, the standard of medical care “Lyme disease” has been approved (MoH order No.1623 of September 21, 2024): https://www.dec.gov.ua/mtd/hvoroba-lajma/
“The approved standard covers the diagnosis of Lyme disease and treatment for patients of different ages, providing adapted approaches depending on the course of the disease,” said Oksana Hulenko, Head of the Medical Care Standardization Division of the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
In Ukraine, this disease is classified as a particularly dangerous infectious disease. Its pathogens are bacteria carried by ticks, which play a significant role in the development of diseases of various organs and systems. The disease tends toward a prolonged asymptomatic course and the likelihood of recurrent illness, which increases the importance of effective diagnosis and treatment.
Since 2000, when official registration of Lyme disease began, the country has recorded a trend of steady growth in incidence in the city of Kyiv and in Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Lviv, Sumy, Ternopil, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and other regions. This mainly concerns forest-steppe landscape and geographic zones.
Some population groups are at increased risk of infection. These are forestry workers, hunters, farmers, veterinarians, military personnel, shepherds, collectors of forest berries, mushrooms, etc., as well as people who live in or travel to areas endemic for Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections.
Doctors of various specialties should be aware of the main clinical manifestations of the disease in order to suspect the disease early, refer patients to an infectious disease physician for diagnostic measures, and prescribe further treatment.
The diagnosis may be suspected at different stages of the course of the disease; depending on this, the patient will require different examination methods.
Patients with Lyme disease may have lesions of the skin, nervous and cardiovascular systems, musculoskeletal system, and eyes. Multisystem lesions complicate clinical diagnosis, for which Lyme disease has been called the “great imitator” of various human diseases.
A full clinical examination (neurological, cardiological, rheumatological, ophthalmological, and dermatological) is performed, according to indications, for every patient with positive serological tests for Lyme disease
Medical care for patients with Lyme disease requires interdisciplinary cooperation and integrated management of patients by a multidisciplinary team of specialists, which must include physicians: general practitioners–family physicians, neurologists, cardiologists, rheumatologists, immunologists, infectious disease specialists, dermatologists, ophthalmologists, and other specialists; record-keeping and primary management of patients is carried out by infectious disease physicians.
The standard of medical care was developed under the methodological and informational support of the State Expert Center by a group of leading specialists in such fields as infectious diseases, epidemiology, clinical immunology, neurology, ophthalmology, dermatology, propedeutics of internal medicine, phthisiology, obstetrics and gynecology, as well as family medicine and outpatient therapy
