Lyme Disease: Lyme disease is an infectious disease caused by bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.The most prevalent sign of infection is an expanding area of redness, known as erythema migrans, that commences at the site of a tick bite about a week after it has occurred.
Signs and Symptoms of Lyme Disease
Early Signs and Symptoms of Lyme Disease (3 to 30 days after bite):
Pyrexia, fatigue, headache, chills, muscle and joints pain, and swollen lymph nodes.
Erythema Migrans rash:
- Occurs approximately 70 to 80% of infected persons
- Commences at the site of the tick bite after 3 to 30 days (averagely is about 7 days)
- Expands gradually and reaching up to 12 inches or more (30 cm) across over a period of days
- May feel warm to the physical contact but is rarely itchy or painful
- Sometimes clears as it enlarges, “bulls-eye” appearance
- It(“bulls-eye) may appear any area of the body
Late Signs and Symptoms of Lyme Disease(days to months after bite):
- Astringent headaches and neck stiffness
- Supplemental EM rashes on other areas of the body
- Arthritis with rigorous joint pain and swelling, concretely the knees and other big joints.
- Facial palsy (Droop on one or both sides of the face)
- Intermittent pain in tendons, muscles, joints, and bones
- Heart palpitations or an aberrant(irregular ) heartbeat (Lyme carditis)
- Dizziness or shortness of breath
- Inflammation occurs in the brain and spinal cord
- Nerve pain(Neuralgia)
- Shooting pain, numbness, or tingling sensation in the hands or feet
- Quandaries(problem) with short-term memory
Diagnosis and Testing of Lyme Diseases
Lyme disease is diagnosed on:
- Signs and symptoms
- A possible history of exposure to infected by Lyme borreliosis ticks bite
- Laboratory blood tests are also recommended with validated methods. Laboratory tests are not recommended for who do not have symptoms of Lyme disease.
Two-step Laboratory Testing Process
The first step of the testing procedure called “EIA” (enzyme immunoassay)or rarely done“IFA” (indirect immunofluorescence assay). If the first step is negative, no further testing is recommended. If the first step is positive or called “equivocal”, then the second step is performed. The second step test is called an immunoblot test, commonly a type of “Western blot” test. Results are considered positive only EIA/IFA and the immunoblot both are positive.
Treatment of Lyme Diseases
Patients treated with appropriate antibiotics in the early stages of Lyme disease customarily recuperate rapidly and completely. Antibiotics are commonly for oral treatment include amoxicillin, doxycycline, or cefuroxime axetil. Patients who have certain neurological or cardiac forms of illness may require intravenous with drugs such as penicillin or ceftriaxone.
Prevention of Lyme Diseases
Blacklegged ticks live in moist and sultry environments, categorically in and near wooded or grassy areas. You may get a tick on you during alfresco activities around your habitation or when ambulating through leaves and bushes. To eschew ticks, ambulate in the centre of trails and eschew ambulating through tall bushes or other vegetation.