sentences:  Vaccine expert Stanley Plotkin predicted that the withdrawal meant there will never be another Lyme disease vaccine available.In recent years, Steere has pioneered studies of the role of infectious agents in triggering autoimmune diseases, particularly in patients with post-infectious, antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.The inflammation of the synovial membrane in affected joints, which is the target of an untoward immune response, is similar in both diseases.