After many years of research, development, clinical trials, and much more controversy than seems absolutely necessary, it appears as though a human Lyme disease vaccine may finally be nearing approval.
There has, of course, been a canine vaccine available for many years and I can't count the number of times I've heard from pet owners mystified over why they can protect their dogs from Lyme disease but not themselves or their kids. The answer to that question is long and complicated and the subject of many of news articles you will have no trouble finding if you take a moment to search for them.
A select group of volunteers in eastern Canada and the United States have already received the jab as part of the final stage of trials. If all goes well, the company that has developed the vaccine that's most likely to hit the market first hopes to apply for registration in the US as early as next year, meaning that by the time tick season rolls around in 2027, a growing number of people residing in the heavily endemic areas where risk is the greatest may be protected from Lyme disease. No word on when the vaccine could potentially be available to the general public in Canada, but presumably that application would follow on the heels of US approval.
Equally exciting is the development of vaccines that target the rodents that act as reservoir hosts for Lyme bacteria, which help to maintain Lyme transmission cycles in nature. Research into inoculating mice with bait vaccines has been going on for many years in Canada and elsewhere and at least one company is now marketing these vaccines -- which take the form of pellets -- to those living in endemic areas of the United States. They aren't yet available in Canada, but the ability to immunize the local rodent populations against Lyme bacteria may be on the horizon here and is definitely something to be on the lookout for.
Of course, these vaccines will have no effect whatsoever on any co-infecting organisms a tick may be carrying, so if you are bitten by a blacklegged tick, you would still be at risk of developing anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Powassan's encephalitis and/or a handful of other diseases. But at least things are heading in the right direction, and they will no doubt take some pressure off the teams of scientists in North America and around the world who continue to work hard on developing next generation treatments for Lyme disease that will, hopefully, one day put an end to the enduring symptoms that many people experience post-antibiotic treatment.
