Tick-Borne Disease Information
for Your Doctor

Treatment Options - Two Sets of Guidelines

In emerging diseases, knowledge is developing rapidly and is often uncertain or conflicting. It is common in such situations to have multiple clinical guidelines available to the medical community. Indeed, in Lyme disease, there are two different sets of clinical guidelines published by professional medical societies. Your health care practitioner is required to inform patients of these different guidelines (per Pennsylvania’s Act 83), with the level of evidence supporting them, to guide individualized treatment decision-making.

IDSA Guidelines

Infectious disease doctors typically follow the Infectious Diseases of America (IDSA) guidelines to treat Lyme disease. With IDSA guidelines, the emphasis on clinical judgment is limited.

IDSA guidelines generally …

  • Require a positive lab test for diagnosis

  • Provide short-term treatment

  • Offer no further treatment options for patients who remain ill.

ILADS Guidelines

ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) guidelines provide:

  • Clinical judgment and shared medical decision-making based on patient values and preferences.

  • Diagnoses may be made clinically, with lab testing supporting the diagnosis.

  • ILADS guidelines recommend doxycycline for 20 days or longer after a tick bite in an area known for high tick infection.

  • The guidelines also recommend consideration of longer treatment as appropriate, especially when persistent symptoms are present, sometimes with multi-systemic symptoms.

    The button below will open the ILADS Treatment Guidelines, which you can print out and give to your healthcare provider.

Better Understand the Differences between IDSA & ILADS Treatment Guidelines

Healthcare Provider Educational Programs

ILADS promotes understanding of Lyme and associated diseases through research, education and policy. They strongly support physicians, scientists, researchers and other healthcare professionals dedicated to advancing the standard of care for Lyme and associated diseases. Their educational program includes:

  • ILADS Annual Scientific Conferences

  • ILADS Vector-Borne Illness Fundamentals

  • Virtual Seminars

  • Webinars

The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Education Foundation offers a Physicians Training Program, in which participants learn how to evaluate and treat patients for Lyme and associated tick-borne diseases in a real-world setting.

Medical Conferences in Pennsylvania

PA Lyme partners with ILADS, Drexel University and East Stroudsburg University to bring continuing tick-borne disease education to health care practitioners in Pennsylvania. Tentatively, our next medical conference will be in Spring 2027.