BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Chronic Lyme disease has been a hotly debated medical topic in recent decades.

While some doctors believe it is a true illness and should be diagnosed and treated as such, others, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, say there is no convincing evidence that chronic Lyme disease exists.

Named after the Connecticut town where it was first diagnosed, Lyme disease is an inflammatory disease spread through tick bites.

After it's diagnosed, a patient is usually given 10 to 28 days of antibiotics.

A recent study looked into how often doctors diagnosed and treated a chronic form of the disease, which would require continuous treatment of oral or intravenous antibiotics.

Of the 285 primary care doctors surveyed, only six physicians had diagnosed and treated the disease with about 20 weeks of antibiotics.

Nearly half of them did not believe that chronic Lyme disease was a legitimate diagnosis.