They have gotten much worse, in the last few years (Long Island, NY).
I also know a few (several) folks that have had very bad, life-changing debilitation, as a result of Lyme. I'm aware of one (that I never met), who died from complications of Lyme. I also have a family member, that got it pretty badly, recovered completely, and now seems to be immune.
I'm having myself checked at the doctor, next week.
I went to the doctor, she said the tests at this phase are unreliable, my bite could be Lyme, but could be something else too (the bulls eye rings didn't form yet). She said the pragmatic approach is too treat it as if it was Lyme and take antibiotics. It's better to take some antibiotics than wait for the symptoms (which are not always easy to assign to lyme).
Other practitioners use westernblot lab results and differential diagnosis.
They claim it can be cultured too.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.6280...
Check out also Dualdur, received 3MEur from EU in 2018.
My relative didn't find out, until he had a cantaloupe for a kneecap. They tested the fluid, and found lots of Lyme.
He's always getting bit. Deer pass through his backyard, on a regular.
He said the treatment was anticlimactic. A course of oral antibiotics.
The CDC warns against nonstandard testing: https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/diagnosistesting/labtest/otherlab/i...
You'd be surprised how little regulation that some lab testing gets: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/new-fda-regulatory-role-thr...
There are a lot more predatory labs than Theranos out there...
The frontiers study shows bacteria persists inside the brain.