Dr. Gerard Sheehan:

To treat specific infections, we are not afraid to use long-term antibiotics. We have people on intravenous antibiotics for six weeks commonly and for three or even six months. They are for very specific and well defined entities where the benefits of such a somewhat risky course of treatment are justified. The obvious example is an infection of a prosthetic joint such as when somebody has an artificial hip and is unlucky enough to witness a complication. For Lyme disease, we find no evidence of benefit and this issue has been examined in at least four random control trials. This is where a large number of people are randomly assigned to be treated for three months with antibiotics, while others are assigned to not being on antibiotics. Essentially, no benefit was recorded. but patients would be exposed to a hazard.