Lyme disease is a public health crisis in the US. It is estimated that over 400,000 cases occur every year with 10-20% of those infected going on to develop Post-Treatment Lyme disease Syndrome (PTLDS). The goal of this study is to investigate if giving Ceftriaxone every 5 days for about 6 weeks kills the organism that produces persistent Lyme infection. Enrolled participants will be randomized 1:1 receiving either pulse-dosed ceftriaxone or placebo \[dextrose (5% in water), (D5W)\], intravenously. Participants will be evaluated at each of the study visits, and then in a follow-up phase out to 12 months. They will be unblinded at 6 months and those randomized to the placebo group will be offered pulse-dosed ceftriaxone on the same schedule as those randomized to the drug group. All patients will be followed up for a total of 12 months post treatment initiation.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
20
9 infusions spaced out approximately every 5 days
D5W (placebo)
Hackensack University Medical Center
Hackensack, New Jersey, United States
RECRUITINGSafety of pulse-dosed ceftriaxone
To assess the safety of pulse-dosed ceftriaxone in PTLDS when compared to placebo as well as historical data based on the number of reported adverse and serious adverse events.
Time frame: 12 months post treatment initiation
Tolerability of pulse-dosed ceftriaxone
To assess the tolerability of pulse-dosed ceftriaxone in PTLDS when compared to placebo as well as historical data based on the number of reported adverse and serious adverse events.
Time frame: 12 months post treatment initiation
Study Feasibility
To assess the recruit the patients within the pre-determined period of time (6 months).
Time frame: 6 month enrollment period
Clinical Improvement - Physical and mental summary indices
To assess clinical improvement after treatment using additional clinical outcome measures. Primary functional change with the physical and mental summary indices of the SF-36 as either responder or non-responder (a change of 6.5 points on the SF-physical health summary scale, and 7.9 points on the mental health summary scale respectively). Eight scales are used and when combined measure the physical and mental health of participants. Each scale is scored to have same average (50) and the same standard deviation (10 points). with a score below 50 representing below average health.
Time frame: 12 months post treatment initiation
Clinical Improvement - General Symptom Questionnaire (GSQ-30)
To assess clinical improvement after treatment using additional clinical outcome measures. General Symptom Questionnaire (GSQ-30).GSQ-30 us used to assess symptom burden and specifically pain/fatigue, neuropsychiatric, neurologic, and viral-like symptom burden impacting function. Each symptom is measured on scale of 0 (not at all) to 4 (very much) for an overall score of 0-120 with higher scores representing higher burden.
Time frame: 12 months post treatment initiation
Clinical Improvement - PROMIS-29
To assess clinical improvement after treatment using additional clinical outcome measures using PROMIS-29 which has multiple sections and scoring varies by section. The min/max are as follows: Physical Function (PF) 4-20, Anxiety 4-20, Depression 4-20, Fatigue 4-20, Sleep Disturbance- 4-20, Ability to Participate in Social Roles and Activities (APSRA) 4-20, Pain Interference 4-20, Pain Intensity 0-10. For PF and APSRA, improvement would be tracked by an increase in score. For Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, Sleep Disturbance, Pain interference, and Pain Intensity improvement would be tracked by a decrease in score. A higher score in PF and APSRA suggest better health. A higher score in Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, Sleep Disturbance, Pain interference and Pain Intensity suggests lower health. A score change of 5 points or more is considered clinically meaningful.
Time frame: 12 months post treatment initiation
Clinical Improvement - Quantitative Lyme VlsE1/pepC10 Ab
To assess clinical improvement after treatment using additional clinical outcome measures changes in quantitative Lyme VlsE1/pepC10 Ab. Higher titers represent higher antibodies.
Time frame: 12 months post treatment initiation
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