I grew up in the Lyme endemic area of Dutchess County, New York. Moving to the south 20 years ago, I thought that this disease was a distant memory for my family and patients. Alas, this is not to be so.
As the epidemiological data pours in, we are seeing a huge spike in lyme arthritis and secondary complications all over Virginia and sporadic cases being reported in North Carolina.
What is Lyme disease? It is an infection caused by a class of bacterium called Borrelia.
The infection is transmitted mostly by the deer tick and other black legged ticks. It is believed that the tick needs to be attached to the skin for a prolonged period of time (36-48 hours) to transmit the bacterium to us; however, many people have no memory of a tick bite when they are diagnosed with the illness.
Symptoms include:
2) If not promptly treated at the rash stage, infected individuals will develop headache, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes and arthralgias.
3) In the first few weeks, patients will get arthritis, meningitis and localized neurological paralysis like Bell's Palsy.
4) Chronic lyme infection is an emerging problem that is still not well understood. These people still suffer symptoms despite the infection being treated. They have excessive fatigue, arthritis, cognitive problems, sleep disturbances and other issues. seek out an integrative medicine specialist if this is a concern.
Prevention is the key. Here are some tips:
1) Use a quality insect repellant like Herbal Armour by All Terrain when playing in tick type terrain.
2) Check yourself and your children's skin after hiking or playing in the woods.
3) Remove ticks immediately according to published guidelines.
4) Take a shower as soon as you get home. Also helps prevent poison ivy issues.
5) Shake off all gear before getting into your car for the return trip.
Dr. M
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