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Lyme Disease FactsLyme Disease InfoLyme disease strikes fear into the hearts of many. The idea of a small bug crawling from the grass or leaves under our clothes, sucking our blood like a miniature vampire, and leaving behind a disease is creepy at best. Indeed, Lyme disease is the most common arthropod-borne illness in the United States. Because it is so repugnant and affects so many people but is seldom well-understood, there is a mass of false information out there, but it is time to set the record straight and separate fact from fiction. Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria borrelia burgdorferi, a spirochete bacterium, and is only transmitted via the bites of Ixodes ticks, i.e. Ixodes scapularis, and Ixodes pacificus. These ticks are better known as the black-legged tick, or deer tick, and the western black-legged tick. Ticks, disease carrying or not, prefer wooded or bushy areas with tall grass and lots of leaves. The disease is found in Europe, North America, Australia, and some parts of Asia. In the United States, it is most prevalent in the Northeast, the upper Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest. In 2004, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania had the majority of the almost twenty thousand cases reported. Connecticut, the state where Lyme disease was first identified and where the city it takes its name from is located, had the most reported cases for many years. Lyme disease is an inflammatory disease - first of the skin, then of the joints, and finally of the nervous system. Within thirty days of infection, the skin around the bite usually breaks out in an erythema migrans (EM) rash, often resembling a bull's eye. The disease later causes arthritis of major joints, especially the knees. In severe cases, there may be damage to the nervous system, such as numbness, and arrhythmia of the heart. Treatment of Lyme disease is fairly routine and especially effective in the early stages of the disease. Oral antibiotics such as amoxicillin clear most cases within two to four weeks. Intravenous antibiotics are sometimes prescribed for advanced cases. Combinations of antibiotics and treatments longer than twenty eight days have not been proven any more effective and are therefore not suggested. Preventing Lyme disease is pretty straight-forward. Avoid tick-prone areas especially in the peak summer season. If you do enter a tick-prone area, wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and tall socks. After leaving the area, check your body for ticks, especially in the armpits, groin, and scalp. Remove any attached ticks with a tweezers. Filed under: Lyme Disease Facts |
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