[Evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes in patients with early disseminated Lyme borreliosis].

Fifteen patients with clinically documented early disseminated lyme borreliosis were screened for the presence of spirochetes. In vitro trials of isolation of the pathogen were positive in 8 blood and 1 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. The positivity was further confirmed by electron microscopy, Western blot analysis and PCR. However, succesfull DNA extraction after using Borrelia specific primers proved the positivity in 9 blood and 1 CSF samples (67 %). Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method using MseI restriction of PCR products of the amplified rrf-rrl region, allowed the identification of three species, namely the Borrelia garinii, B. afzelii and B. burgdorferi s.s.