Confirmed cases of Lyme disease have become more frequent in recent years, either because the infection is now more common or because greater awareness of the disorder has brought more cases to the attention of doctors.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 200,000 people are now infected each year, but only about a tenth of these cases are reported to health officials.
Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which is carried on the deer tick or western black-legged tick. These ticks are hard to find because they are so small — about the size of a sesame seed.
Lyme disease can be avoided by preventing tick bites and by quickly removing any ticks found on the skin. If suspicious symptoms do occur, you can avoid the major discomforts from Lyme disease with a prompt doctor's visit.
Prevent tick bites
- When walking into wooded areas or tall grass, wear long-sleeved shirts and light-colored long pants (which make the tiny deer ticks easier to see). Tuck trouser legs into socks and shirttails into pants.
- Spray clothes and exposed skin with insect repellent containing 10 percent to 30 percent DEET.
- Once back home, check for ticks on the skin, especially on the scalp, neck, under the arms, and groin.
- Remove any ticks as soon as possible. The longer a tick is on the skin, the greater the chance of the infecting bacteria being transmitted.
Remove the tick
- Using fine-tipped tweezers, grasp the head of the tick close to the skin and begin easing the tick out of the skin with slow and steady force.
- Do not twist or rock the tick from side to side but pull it straight out of the skin.
- Be patient so you don't tear the body parts of the tick from its mouthparts and leave them behind in the skin.
- Don't panic, however, if mouthparts are left behind. They alone cannot transmit disease, though they can cause an infection just like a splinter.
- Don't squeeze or crush the body of the tick — this can force infective body parts through the mouthparts into the wound.
- Kill the tick by putting it into alcohol.
- Wash the site of the bite and your hands with soap and water.
- Apply alcohol or an antiseptic to the bite site.
- Save the tick for identification in case symptoms develop. Place the tick in a clean dry jar, Ziploc plastic bag, or other sealed container and preserve it in the freezer for up to a month.
Contact your doctor if you:
- note a bite mark surrounded by a red rash shaped like a ring. Most common is a "bulls-eye" pattern that can grow to more than two inches across.
- experience typical symptoms of Lyme disease, which may include chills, fever, joint pain, tiredness, swollen lymph nodes, headache, and stiff neck.
- discover a tick that has been on your skin for more than 24 hours.
Although exposure to ticks occurs most often in the late spring and early summer, symptoms may not be evident for a number of weeks.
The diagnosis of Lyme disease is based on the characteristic appearance of the rash and a history of possible or known exposure to ticks. The bacteria can usually be eliminated with a three-week course of antibiotics.
Later in the course of the disease, the diagnosis can be confirmed with laboratory tests. Most often, the tests remain positive even after antibiotic treatment, but in some cases treatment may interfere with a positive test.
If the infection is left untreated, the bacteria can spread through the bloodstream to cause symptoms at distant sites. The most frequent symptoms are pain in one or more joints.
Involvement of the nervous system can produce paralysis of the facial nerves or other manifestations. The infection can also lead to an abnormal heart rhythm that resolves quickly or goes away even before treatment.
