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What Causes Lyme Disease?Lyme Disease InfoTicks, tiny parasitic arthropods, have very little pleasing characteristics about them. Not only do they crawl from the grass or underbrush in wooded areas up your legs to find a warm, comfortable venue for dinner - your blood - but they are widely known to carry disease. A particular favorite of ticks from the genus Ixodes is Lyme disease. It was once thought that the actual tick bite caused the infection, but the bacteria borrelia burgdorferi is now known to be the culprit behind the numerous symptoms of Lyme disease. Young deer ticks, or blacklegged ticks, feed on infected animals, consuming bacteria along with the blood. The bacteria then live in the gut of the ticks until the ticks feed on another animal or human. While the ticks happily drink away, the bacteria enter the bloodstream of the victim, infecting it with Lyme disease. The bacteria then attacks the bodily tissues causing the tell-tale erythema migrans rash that often looks like a bull's eye, the flu-like symptoms, and eventually the arthritic inflammation of joints indicative of advanced Lyme disease. Luckily, the chances of contracting Lyme disease are slight for most people. Only certain ticks, members of the Ixodes genus, are known to carry the bacteria. Being bitten by other species of ticks carries no proven risk of infection and only one to three percent of Ixodes tick bites result in Lyme disease. Other means of transmission, e.g. bodily contact, blood transfusions, kissing, sexual contact, ingesting infected meats, other insect bites, or through the air have never been proven to constitute even a risk of infection. Only people who live in areas where deer ticks or blacklegged ticks are common or people who are regularly in wooded areas have an elevated risk of contracting Lyme disease. Preventing tick bites is then the best way to prevent contracting the disease. Avoid areas where ticks like to live. Wooded or bushy areas with lots of tall grass or fallen leaves are tick magnets. If you have to enter such places, use insect repellent that says it works against ticks. Many of these have DEET in them and are widely available. Wear long pants, long sleeves, and tall socks to prevent access to your skin. Once you leave tick-prone areas, change your clothes and check your body for ticks, especially the scalp, armpits, and groin. Remove any ticks you find with tweezers. If you follow these preventative measures, you will greatly reduce your risk of contracting B. burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Filed under: What Causes Lyme Disease? |
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