Lyme Disease Vaccine Being Developed

BOSTON (CBS) - More and more people are being afflicted by Lyme disease, not only here in New England but around the country. It begs the question, why don't we have a vaccine to prevent this common tick-borne illness?

A human vaccine was introduced in 1998. It was effective but expensive and there was public concern about its safety and sales were low, so it was yanked off the market four years later. Right now there is only a Lyme vaccine for dogs.

Fortunately, there is a new vaccine for humans in the pipeline developed by a French company, which says it has received fast-track status from the FDA and hopes to get the vaccine licensed in about five years.