[Disease (Lyme disease) in pediatric patients in Switzerland caused by spirochetes (Borrelia burgdorferi) of Ixodes ricinus].

Lyme disease in children is studied in the light of questionnaires sent out twice to departments and divisions of pediatrics in Switzerland. Thirty-six serologically proven cases were collected. The 48 clinical signs attributed to Lyme disease involved the skin in 40%, the nervous system in 40%, and the joints in 20%. They were erythema chronicum migrans (13), lymphocytoma (4), acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (2), peripheral facial palsy (14), sensomotor radiculoneuritis (2), meningoencephalitis (3) and arthritis (10, 7 of which were monoarthritic). Only half the patients had a history of tick-bite. Antibiotic therapy, usually with penicillin, reduced both the duration of symptoms and frequency of secondary disease. Cardiac involvement and chronic stages with residua were not observed in this series.