Based on the study below a natural infection with Lyme will not protect from subsequent infection. The lack of immunological memory explains why it is possible to get re-infected multiple times from repeat tick bites. When we contract measles for example we produce antibodies to fight off infection without sustaining long term illness and then we do not get measles again. Effective antibodies persist after infection of measles, not so with Lyme disease. So how could any vaccine offer protection? The immune system cannot generate immunological memory during infection with the Lyme disease agent B. burgdorferi http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043466613003542 Excerpts from the study: …In vertebrates including humans, mice and dogs, the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) causes a chronic, non-resolving infection known as Lyme disease, which requires antibiotic treatment to clear the bacteria. Re-infections are common in endemic regions.