Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is often associated with heavily wooded or grassy areas where mice and deer live. It is most common in the
Northeast, the Pacific Northwest and the northern states of the Midwest.
About Lyme Disease
Lyme disease infection is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes in small animals such as mice. Ixodes
Ticks (also black-legged or deer ticks), which can then be transferred from these animals to Borrelia burgdorferi
People through tick bites.
Ticks are small and can be hard to see. Immature ticks, or nymphs are about the size of a poppy seed, adult ticks are
the size of a sesame seed.
It is important to know and watch for the symptoms of Lyme disease because ticks are hard to find and it's easy to overlook a
Tick bite - in fact, many people who get Lyme disease do not remember being bitten. The good news is that most tick bites
not result in Lyme disease.
Signs and symptoms
Lyme disease may be various systems of the body, such as the nervous system, joints, skin and heart. The symptoms are often
described as happening in three stages (although not everyone experiences all three):
A circular rash, typically within 1-2 weeks of infection, is often the first sign of infection. Although it as
typical of Lyme disease, many people never develop such.
The rash usually has a characteristic "target" appearance, with a central red spot by clear skin that is surrounded
surrounded by an expanding red rash. It can also appear as an extension ring of solid redness. It may be warm to the touch
and is not painful or itchy in general. The rash may be a little difficult to see on people with darker skin, where it
can be seen as a bruise. The rash usually resolves in about a month.
Along with the rash, a person may have flu-like symptoms such as swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, headache, muscle and
Pain. If left untreated, the symptoms of the original disease may go away on their own. But in some people the infection can
on other parts of the body. The symptoms of this stage of Lyme disease usually appear within several weeks after the
Tick bite, even someone who has not developed the initial rash. A person may feel very tired and unwell or have
more areas of rash that does not. at the site of the bite
Lyme disease can affect the heart, causing an irregular heartbeat or chest pain. It can spread to the nervous system
System whereby facial paralysis (Bell's palsy) or tingling and numbness in the arms and legs. It can start to cause
Headaches and neck stiffness, which may be a sign of meningitis.
The last stage of Lyme disease can occur if the early stages were not recognized or treated appropriately. The symptoms of late
Lyme disease can appear any time from weeks to years (average 6 months) after an infectious tick bite, and in children
almost always in the form of arthritis, especially in the knees and other large joints.
With such a variety of symptoms Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose for doctors, although certain blood
Tests may be done to look for evidence of the body's response to Lyme disease.
When to call the doctor
If you could make your child at risk for Lyme disease be or think, has been bitten by a tick, call your doctor. Although other
Conditions can cause similar symptoms, it is always advisable to contact your physician, especially if your child develops a red-
ringed rash, prolonged flu-like symptoms, joint pain or a swollen joint or facial paralysis. So your child can get
further evaluation and treatment, if necessary, before the disease progresses too far.
Prevention
There is no surefire way to prevent Lyme disease. But you can minimize your family's risk.
Be aware of ticks in high-risk areas such as shady, moist ground cover or in areas with high grass, brush, shrubs and low tree
Branches. Can accommodate lawns and gardens ticks to, especially at the edges of forests and around old stone
Walls (areas where deer and mice, the primary hosts of the tick, thrive).
If you or your children spend a lot of time outdoors, take precautions:
Wear closed-toe shoes or boots, long-sleeved shirts and long pants. To prevent Tuck pant legs into the boots or shoes to ticks
of crawling legs.
Use an insect repellent with 10% to 30% DEET (N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide).
Wear bright clothing so you can see ticks more easily.
Keep long hair pulled back or tucked into a cap for protection.
Do not sit on the ground outdoors.
Check regularly ticks - indoors and outdoors. Wash clothes and hair after leaving tick-infested areas.
If you use an insect repellent with DEET, always follow the recommendations on the product label and do not
overapply it. Place DEET on shirt collars and sleeves and pant cuffs, and only use directly on exposed areas of skin.
Be sure to wash it off when you go back home.
No vaccine for Lyme disease is currently on the market in the United States.
Treatment
Lyme disease is usually treated with a 2 - to 4-week course of antibiotics. Cases that are quickly diagnosed and treated
with antibiotics almost always have a good result. A person should feel back to normal within a few weeks after
Initiation of treatment.
Contagiousness
Lyme disease is not contagious, it can not be transmitted from person to person. But people can get it more than once
by ticks that live on deer, in the woods or traveling to pets. So continue to exercise caution, even if you or your child
has Lyme disease.
If you tick a
You should know how to make a tick just in case one lands on you or to remove your child. First, do not panic. The risk
Lyme disease develop after being bitten by a tick is only about 1% to 3%. On top of that, it takes at least 24 to 48
Transferred cause hours for ticks, the bacteria that disease. (To be sure, though, you should remove the check mark
as soon as possible.) is therefore a daily tick check is a good idea for people who live in high-risk areas.
If you tick one:
Call your doctor might want you to save the tick after removal so that it can be determined if it is the type that can
carry Lyme disease. Put the tick in a sealed container to kill it.
Using tweezers, grasp the tick firmly at its head or mouth, next to the skin.
Pull firmly and steadily on the tick lets it go, to the skin. If part of the tick remains in the skin, do not worry. They
finally come - although you should call your doctor if you notice any irritation or symptoms in the area
Lyme disease.
Wipe the bite site with alcohol.
A word of warning: Do not kill "folk medicine" such as petroleum jelly or a lit match and remove a check mark. This
Do not get methods, the tick from the skin and might just cause the insect to dig deeper and have more saliva (which
increases the chances of disease transmission).
Tick bites usually do not hurt - that's part of the difficulty in knowing whether someone has Lyme disease because pain
usually helps to call attention to the problems. So looking for ticks and rashes, and call your doctor if you are currently
all concerned.