The biomedical evolutionary history of Lyme disease in North America and Europe: An anthropological analysis.

摘要

The biomedical evolutionary history of Lyme disease consists of a dual evolutionary tract, first in Europe then in North America. This co-evolutionary history of discovery on opposite side of the Atlantic is complicated by sociocultural, and biomedical nuances from the late 19th century and first half of the 20th century that make it appropriate for anthropological study. This review surveys the literature, public health records, sociocultural, historical and statistical documents to arrive at its conclusion. This study concludes that Lyme disease's North American and European co-evolutionary history of discovery has resulted in a nexus of epidemiological, biomedical, sociocultural, environmental, and historical entanglements that impede the contemporary medical diagnosis, treatment and social acceptance of those afflicted by the most commonly reported vector borne illness in the United States.