DENVER, CO (American Academy of Neurology) -- While Lyme disease is usually cured with antibiotic treatment, some patients experience persistent fatigue and cognitive dysfunction. In a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, researchers share their experience in a study evaluating ceftriaxone, a broad spectrum antibiotic they hoped would be effective in treating post-Lyme disease symptoms.

In a double blind, single center, randomized clinical trial, 55 Lyme disease patients with persistent severe fatigue were randomly assigned to receive the ceftriaxone or a placebo. "Although patients assigned to ceftriaxone showed significant improvement in fatigue compared to the placebo group, seven percent were hospitalized with adverse treatment effects," according to study author Lauren Krupp, MD, of State University of New York -- Stony Brook.

"We had hoped to find a treatment option for these patients that would improve their symptoms and reduce the level of infection," comments Krupp. "But given these adverse effects, and because neither cognitive functioning nor laboratory measure of infection were improved, our study does not support the use of repeated courses of ceftriaxone."

Krupp added, "The observation that fatigue did improve is very encouraging and hopefully other treatment approaches that are better tolerated or safer for patients can be identified to ameliorate post-Lyme disease symptoms."