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Lyme disease: Symptoms, transmission, and treatment Initial signs and symptoms of Lyme disease are usually very mild. Some people may not notice any symptoms, or they may think they have flu. After the initial phase, further symptoms develop. Symptoms can disappear, but the disease can affect the body in other ways, years later. Stage 1: Early Lyme disease Erythema migrans (EM) is a rash that often appears in the early stage of Lyme disease, from 3 to 30days after infection, or 7 days on average. EM affects 70 to 80 percent of people who are infected. The rash: typically begins as a small red area that expands over several days, to reach a diameter of 12 inches or 30 centimeters may lose its color in the center, giving a bull's-eye appearance usually starts at the site of the tick bite but can appear elsewhere as the bacteria spread is not painful or itchy but may feel warm to the touch The rash may be less evident on darker skin. Stage 2: Early dis...

Lyme Basics Find the two ticks attached to this child’s face. Lyme disease (often misspelled as “Lime” or “Lymes”) is an inflammatory infection that spreads to humans through tick bites. Lyme is a borreliosis caused by borrelia bacteria, which commonly infects animals like birds, mice, other small rodents, and deer. Ticks pick up the bacteria by biting infected animals, and then pass it on to other animals, including human hosts. There are many strains or genospecies of borrelia that cause Lyme disease (borreliosis) in humans just as there are many strains of the flu virus that cause flu symptoms in humans, with some strains more virulent than others. In the photo to the right, the two dark freckles, one on the cheek and one on the neck, are actually ticks attached to this child’s face. 3 stages of Lyme (often blurred together quite rapidly) Stage 1:  Early infection (first few days after infection) Stage 2: Infection spreads (days to weeks fol...

What is Lyme Disease? Lyme disease (LD) is an infection caused by  Borrelia burgdorferi , a type of bacterium called a spirochete (pronounced spy-ro-keet) that is carried by deer ticks An infected tick can transmit the spirochete to the humans and animals it bites. Untreated, the bacterium travels through the bloodstream, establishes itself in various body tissues, and can cause a number of symptoms, some of which are severe. Often, an erythema migrans (EM) rash appears within 7-14 days at the site of a tick bite  LD manifests itself as a multisystem inflammatory disease that affects the skin in its early, localized stage, and spreads to the joints, nervous system and, to a lesser extent, other organ systems in its later, disseminated stages. If diagnosed and treated early with antibiotics, LD is almost always readily cured. Generally, LD in its later stages can also be treated effectively, but because the rate of disease progression and individual response to trea...

What are complications of Lyme disease? Lyme disease can be complicated by permanent damage to joints, the heart, the brain, and the nervous system. There is recent research that demonstrates an increased risk for autoimmune forms of arthritis, including psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and peripheral spondyloarthropathy, as a result of chronic Lyme disease (or post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome [PTLDS]), even after treatment. Is it possible to prevent Lyme disease? Is there a Lyme disease vaccine? Avoiding known tick-infested areas obviously can prevent transmission of Lyme disease. Because Lyme disease is transmitted by ticks attaching to the body, it is important to use tick-bite avoidance techniques when visiting endemic areas for ticks. Spraying insect repellant containing DEET onto exposed skin can help to keep ticks off of skin and clothes. Wearing long pants tucked into boots and long sleeves can protect the skin. Clothing, children, ...

What are Lyme disease treatments? What is the prognosis of Lyme disease? Lyme disease is usually curable with antibiotics. This is so true that some authors of Lyme disease research have stated that the most common cause of lack of response of Lyme disease to antibiotics is a lack of Lyme disease to begin with! The type of antibiotic depends on the stage of the disease (early or late) and what areas of the body are affected. Early illness is usually effectively treated with medications taken by mouth, for example, doxycycline (Vibramycin), amoxicillin (Amoxil), or cefuroxime axetil (Ceftin). This antibiotic therapy generally result in a rapid cure of Lyme disease. Of note, doxycycline should not be used in pregnancy or in children under 8 years of age. Therefore, if a person finds a typical bull's-eye skin rash (described above) developing in an area of a tick bite, they should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Gene...

What types of doctors treat Lyme disease? Doctors who are involved in the treatment of Lyme disease include primary-care physicians (including pediatricians, family medicine doctors, and internists), as well as specialists in infectious disease, rheumatology, and neurology. What tests do health-care professionals use to diagnose Lyme disease? In early Lyme disease, doctors can sometimes make a diagnosis simply by finding the classic red rash (described above), particularly in people who have recently been in regions in which Lyme disease is common. The doctor might review the patient's history and examine the patient in order to exclude diseases with similar findings in the joints, heart, and nervous system. Blood tests for antibodies to Lyme bacteria are generally not necessary or helpful in early stage disease, but it can help in diagnosis in later stages. (Antibodies are produced by the body to attack the bacteria and can be evidence of exposure to ...

What are Lyme disease symptomsand signs? Lyme disease affects different areas of the body in varying degrees as it progresses. The site where the tick bites the skin is where the bacteria enter the body through the skin. Days to weeks later, as the bacteria spread in the skin away from the initial tick bite, the tick-borne infection causes an expanding reddish rashthat is often associated with "flu-like" symptoms. Later, it can produce abnormalities in the joints, heart, and nervous system. Lyme disease is medically described in three phases (stages) as: (1) early localized disease with skin inflammation and rash; (2) early disseminated disease with heart and nervous system involvement, including palsies and meningitis; and (3) late disease featuring motor and sensory nerve damage and brain inflammation, as well as arthritis. In the early phase of the illness, within days to weeks of the tick bite, the skin around the bite develops a...

What are risk factors for developing Lyme disease? Lyme disease occurs most frequently in children 5-14 years of age and adults 40-50 years of age. The most substantial risk factor for Lyme disease is exposure to the ticks located in the high-risk areas of the country listed above, particularly in the New England states, as well as Minnesota and Wisconsin. Additional risk factors include recreational and occupational exposure to ticks and outdoor activities, including gardening, in woods, and fields in the high-risk areas. No transplacental transmission (congenital infection) of Lyme disease from the mother to the unborn child has ever been described. Again, Lyme disease is not contagious from one person to another. Lyme Disease Symptoms & causes Lyme disease Diagnosis & treatmen

What is Lyme disease? What causes Lyme disease? Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease caused by a bacterium called a "spirochete." In the United States, the actual name of the bacterium is  Borrelia burgdorferi . In Europe, the bacteria  Borrelia afzelii  and  Borrelia garinii  also cause Lyme disease. Certain ticks frequently found on deer from various locations harbor the bacterium in their stomachs. Borreliosis is spread by these infected ticks when they bite the skin, which permits the transmission of the spirochete through the skin to infect the body. So Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease. Lyme disease is not contagious from an affected person to someone else. Lyme disease can cause abnormalities in the skin, joints, heart, and nervous system. Lyme Disease Symptoms & causes

About Lyme Disease Lyme disease is a bacterial infection primarily transmitted by Ixodes ticks, also known as deer ticks, and on the West Coast, black-legged ticks. These tiny arachnids are typically found in wooded and grassy areas. Although people may think of Lyme as an East Coast disease, it is found throughout the United States, as well as in more than sixty other countries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease in the US every year. That’s 1.5 times the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer, and six times the number of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS each year in the US. However, because diagnosing Lyme can be difficult, many people who actually have Lyme may be misdiagnosed with other conditions. Many experts believe the true number of cases is much higher. Lyme disease affects people of all ages. The CDC notes that it is most common in children, older adults, and others such as fire...