A disease caused by the bacterium which is belongs to the class of Spirochaetes which implies cockscrew-shaped. This bacterial infection is caused by four species. Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia mayonii cause the disease in the United States, while in Europe and Asia it is Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii.
A person can acquire Lyme disease by the bite of an infected tick. This disease is transmitted by deer ticks or black-legged ticks. Ticks are tiny in size and as their bite is painless, people might not even realize that they have been bitten. Once an infected tick attaches itself to the skin, it is able to transmit the bacteria. This bacteria eventually ends up in the bloodstream. The duration of attachment necessary to transfer
…show more content…
If the disease is diagnosed at an early stage, anti-infections treatment is given for a duration of 14-21 days. Adults and children above 8 are recommended doxycycline, while cefuuroxime and amoxicillin are given to younger children and breast-feeding women. The infection can be totally eliminated if a person is treated at the early stage. If Lyme disease is persistent in a patient, then they will be treated with intravenous antibiotics. When the disease is treated at a later stage, the infection will be stopped, but the curing of the symptoms will happen at a slower rate. A patient left untreated could face problems with the nervous system, muscle and joints and the digestive system.
Prevention of Lyme disease lies in avoiding contact with ticks and removing ticks that attach to the skin. Avoiding grassy and woody areas is one way. Dressing defensively to cover up the skin available for the tick to attach is another way prevents the disease. Using repellants on exposed skin or checking for ticks regularly are other methods.
A decade long research that ended in earlier months of this year has sequenced the genome of the tick that causes Lyme disease. This allows researchers to understand how ticks acquire and transmit pathogens allowing them to design a strategy to control
This condition can be treated at anytime by an antibiotic like penicillin. Since this condition can damage the organs, it is better to get it treated sooner than later. It is also important to keep going back to the doctors to get blood work done repeatedly to make sure that the infection is totally cleared up.
Lyme disease has emerged as the most common vector borne infectious disease in the United States and has presented a growing challenge to public health officials over the past three decades. The infection represents a significant disease burden to the population of the United States with nearly 30,000 new cases diagnosed per year and an estimated additional 270,000 annual incident cases that go unreported. The disease results from a bacterial infection with the spirochete bacteria B. burgdorferi. This bacterial agent is transmitted to humans from the bite of a tick and is most commonly associated Ixodes species blacklegged ticks. These ticks represent the largest genus of the family Ixodidae and mainly inhabit temperate forest or grassland
Your chances of acquiring Lyme disease can be greatly affected by where you live or travel to. Many outdoor activities put you at risk. Since deer ticks feed on mice and white-tailed deer, they are most commonly found in heavily wooded areas. Another risk factor of Lyme disease is having exposed skin. Since ticks attach easily to bare skin, being exposed in wooded or grassy areas will increase your risk. If you are bitten by a tick, the final chance of prevention is to remove the tick quickly and properly. In most cases, to infect it’s host, a tick must remain attached to the skin for at least thirty-six hours. If you safely remove the tick
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted through the bite of one of several types of ticks. Borrelia burgdorferi (B burgdorferi) is the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. UMMC (2016) asserted that
“Lyme disease got its name from where it was first discovered in Lyme, Connecticut in 1975” (healthychildren.org). “Since then there has been thousands of cases reported of the disease. The ticks live in low and high seasonal temperatures and high humidity” (healthychildren.org). Lyme Disease most common to occur in the Northeast, North-central states, or West Coast. On behalf of the Northeast, I can tell you that ticks are everywhere in this region. They like to live in tall grasses and woody areas. “The small insects more than often latch onto the foot or lower leg and crawl up the body, and travel up the body with a destination of the head. On their normal hosts, ticks also usually crawl up; they want to blood feed around the
They contract it when feeding on infected hosts. While deer are most commonly known for giving Lyme disease to ticks, rodents are the main threat. “Ostfeld’s research indicates that white-footed mice infect 75-95 percent of larval ticks that feed on them, while deer only infect about one percent” (Mercola). Urban sprawl and hunting has eliminated many of the mice’s natural predators allowing populations to grow and infected ticks to spread.
Lyme disease is transmitted to humans from a natural reservoir (rodents and deer) by ticks that feed on both sets of hosts. Most infections are caused by ticks in the nymphal stage. Ticks in this stage
According to Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt (a world renowned Lyme expert), Lyme disease is considered the plague of the century due to the large number of people with chronic Lyme disease and the associated co-infections. The number one symptom of Lyme is chronic fatigue. People can have Lyme for a very long time and not be properly diagnosed because current laboratory testing comes up short with being able to detect it. One of the main reasons for this is because chronic Lyme does not live in the blood but rather in the tissues. It is an intracellular organism meaning it lives inside the cell. Lyme has different shapes: spirochete (like a spring), cyst with a hard shell, and acellular (without an outer cell membrane). Lyme likes to set up a sanctuary in the body such as in the brain, teeth (such as under a root canal or in a cavitation), vertebrae, breast tissue, and lymph nodes. It looks for a place where it can be protected and the body is vulnerable preferably in fatty tissue or under a biofilm. While traditionally Lyme disease is considered a tick-borne disease, recent findings have discovered that it is an insect-borne disease that can get transferred
Lyme disease is a serious infection that comes from a tick bite. Lyme disease is initially treated with antibiotics for 2-4 weeks. If the disease doesn't clear up after this time, it is suggested that these patients have chronic Lyme disease. These patients will still have the symptoms of Lyme disease after treatment is completed. These symptoms include extreme fatigue, pain in your muscles and joints as well as aches in your body.
Indiana is considered to be a moderate risk state. Some of the states with a higher risk factor are along the upper east coast, Midwest, and western states. These areas seem to have a larger section of woods where the ticks like to hang out. Children seem to develop the disease more than adults. This is probably from being outside and playing
Thesis Statement: “According to the Center of Disease Control, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector borne illness in the United States”(Lyme Disease: Data and statistics, 2016).
It is important to begin treatment right away. Treatment will usually involve the use of antibiotic medicines. In some cases, your health care provider may begin treatments before the diagnosis is confirmed. If your symptoms are severe, a hospital stay may be needed.
A survey was composed to try to understand whether living around wooded areas could increase susceptibility towards getting Lyme Disease, whether owning outdoor pets was a risk towards getting Lyme Disease, and finally, what type of deer tick preventative measures work best amongst animals. Surveys were collected in two ways: online surveys and telephone surveys. In the end, the results were checked through statistical analysis and proven significant. All the results were posted on the Facebook page.
Lyme disease is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected ticks of the Ixodes genus.[3] Usually, the tick must be attached for 36 to 48 hours before the bacteria can spread.[4] In North America, the only
Although most people don’t realize it, one of the world’s most debilitating diseases can often be found in their very own backyard. Lurking in the tall grass or dangling from the end of a branch, just waiting for you to walk by. Barley bigger than a poppy seed, they’re almost impossible to notice. But these tiny black-legged ticks are no joke and if you’ve been bitten, you’re at risk. These nasty little ticks pack a big punch, carrying a very serious life altering disease. This disease, which can change a life forever is known as Lyme disease.