That can mean you’ve acquired Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that’s caused by a germ called Borrelia burgdoferi. Blacklegged tick bites are the primary cause of Lyme disease, and these critters are most active during the warmer summer months. They can affix themselves to your body or clothes during outdoor excursions and administer a tiny bite. It's particularly hard for medical professionals to diagnose because the tick may drop off quietly, unnoticed, at least until symptoms begin to manifest.
Lyme disease is sometimes mistaken by medical professionals for chronic fatigue syndrome, which presents with similar complaints of overwhelming tiredness that never seems to abate and terribly aching joints. It’s only when a rash starts to appear that the true nature of your complaints may become clear. Subsequent laboratory tests can determine whether Lyme disease is at work.
The symptoms of Lyme disease include the aforementioned fatigue accompanied by headaches, fever and a skin rash called Erythema Migrans (commonly referred to as EM). If left untreated, the disease can worsen and begin to affect joints, the heart and the nervous system.
Lyme Disease Statistics
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that as many as 25,000 confirmed cases of Lyme disease may have occurred in the United States in 2014, and there may be as many as 33,000 cases in which the disease is suspected but not confirmed. That makes Lyme disease the most common vector-borne illness (a term used in epidemiology to describe a person, animal or microorganism that transmits an infectious pathogen into a living host) in the United States and the fifth most common nationally notifiable disease. Most cases occur in the Northeast and upper Midwest, though outbreaks can occur anywhere.
Cases are reported by state health departments to the CDC and do not include those cases handled by private physicians. Based on blood tests sent to clinical laboratories, there may be as many as 450,000 annual cases of Lyme disease. The CDC also reviewed the database of a medical claims insurer for evidence of Lyme disease and discovered that between 296,000 to 376,000 additional cases occurred annually. Clearly, it’s a major concern.
Treatment and Prevention
There was once a Lyme disease vaccine available, but the drug’s manufacturer discontinued the item in 2002, claiming that the market demand didn’t match the costs of production. Unfortunately, vaccine recipients do not have lifetime immunity -- the effect of the vaccine wears off after time.
Today, doctors treat Lyme disease mostly by administering antibiotics over several weeks, hoping to knock out the infection before serious complications develop.The recommended treatments include doxycycline, amoxicillin and cefuroxime axetil, but penicillin or ceftriaxone intravenous treatments can be recommended if serious complications develop.
Defend Yourself
The best defense against Lyme disease is to avoid the tick’s bite. Use insect repellent, wear clothes that cover your body, including socks and shoes, and use pesticides to cover exposed skin (but never on your face). Spray solutions that contain up to 30 percent of DEET should be used on exposed skin and clothing. Some outdoor adventurers use a repellent called Permethrin.
But there’s a simpler way to prevent tick bites. Take the time after your hike to look over your body and make sure that a tick hasn’t affixed itself to your skin or clothing. If there’s no one available to do the body exam, then use a mirror to check, making sure you look carefully at your scalp and under arms. A tick can hide anywhere you have exposed skin or clothing.
Before you enter your house, examine any gear or accompanying animals to make sure they are tick-free. It’s a good idea to place your clothes in the dryer immediately after a hike, giving them a tumble on high heat to kill any hidden ticks. Keep in mind that simply taking off clothes is not a preventive measure because the tick can travel from a clothing pile on the floor to your body rather easily.
What to Do if You Find a Tick
If you perform a check and find a tick, remove it and make sure it’s properly disposed of or destroyed. Placing it in the garbage is a bad plan of attack because a live tick can crawl out and affix itself to a nearby body.
If you develop Lyme disease, you may develop an Erythema Migrans (EM) rash in the area of your tick bite anywhere from three days to a month later. The rash will grow and can reach enormous sizes in the bite area, at times resembling a small volcano. It is usually painless and may manifest in multiple such rashes on different areas of your body.
At that point, it’s best to seek medical attention because extreme fatigue, fever and other symptoms are sure to follow. The extreme symptoms of Lyme disease include pain, facial palsy, dizziness, shortness of breath and a tingling sensation in extremities. You may start to become delirious and suffer short-term memory loss in some cases. At that point, hospitalization is recommended.
Keep in mind that most cases of Lyme disease are annoying but not fatal. Just take the proper precautions if you spend time in the great outdoors and live in the upper Midwest or Northeast during the summer months, and you’ll generally avoid acquiring the disease.