Lyme disease annual infection rates per 100,000 people

Last updated on Thursday, 12 March 2026 at 10:58am

Summary

• Topic: lyme
• Category: cases
• API name: lyme_cases_infectionRateByYear

Rationale

Measuring the annual infection rates of Lyme disease per 100,000 people helps local authorities and health protection teams understand changes in infection over time. Insights are used by health promotion teams to raise awareness and provide guidance on disease management.

Definition

This metric shows the annual rate of acute Lyme disease infections caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. This is the number of confirmed cases in laboratories in England per 100,000 population separated by age and sex.

Methodology

The rate per 100,000 population of annual acute Lyme Disease is calculated from cases confirmed by the Rare and Imported Pathogens (RIPL) laboratory and mid-year population estimates published by the Office for National Statistics.

Caveats

Cases of Lyme disease are not notifiable and may be diagnosed clinically and treated without laboratory diagnosis. Laboratory confirmed Lyme disease cases may also be under reported as patient samples diagnosed at local NHS laboratories or private laboratories may not be sent to RIPL for diagnosis or confirmation.

The place of residence or hospital of diagnosis of a case does not necessarily reflect the geographic area where the tick bite occurred. Tick bites may have been received in different local authorities, regions or countries.