Lyme disease, a deer tick-borne infection provoked by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, was first recorded in medical literature in 1883. Although the disease has been prevalent for centuries, its severity was only realized in 1975, when an outbreak of individuals suffered juvenile arthritis and rashes on their body. Transferred through the bite of an infected tick, the infection can spread through the joints, the bloodstream, the heart, and the nervous system if not properly treated. Lyme Disease is the most common arthropod-borne illness in North America, with there being over 200,000 cases each year, but its diagnosis and treatment can be challenging for clinicians to identify because of its diverse manifestations. Therefore, it is imperative
…show more content…
The first sign is an expanding, pronounced rash on the body, which occurs in most LD cases. It can be a solid red color or a blotch, has a diameter of approximately 5 inches, persists for a month, and appears 1 to 2 weeks after the disease is transmitted. These rashes are usually not painful or itchy, but this does not lesson their severity, as they are a tell-tale sign of other symptoms. Fever, headaches, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, chills, and swollen lymph nodes, are common symptoms which occur approximately 3 to 30 days after a tick bite. Later signs and symptoms are almost relentless, with facial palsy, heart palpitations, episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath, shooting pains, numbness, and problems with short-term memory being a few. Physicians can diagnose a person based on these signs and symptoms, as well as any history available to them on the exposure of these ticks. Immediately after the exposure to the ticks, two-step blood tests may be negative because antibodies can take weeks to develop, which is why diagnostic blood tests only taken a couple of weeks after a bite are recommended. While simple blood tests work well, ELISA and Western-blot blood tests are recommended to recognize the disease as early as possible to determine whether a person is infected. If one suffers from neurological symptoms or joint
The first sign is an expanding, pronounced rash on the body, which occurs in most LD cases. It can be a solid red color or a blotch, has a diameter of approximately 5 inches, persists for a month, and appears 1 to 2 weeks after the disease is transmitted. These rashes are usually not painful or itchy, but this does not lesson their severity, as they are a tell-tale sign of other symptoms. Fever, headaches, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, chills, and swollen lymph nodes, are common symptoms which occur approximately 3 to 30 days after a tick bite. Later signs and symptoms are almost relentless, with facial palsy, heart palpitations, episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath, shooting pains, numbness, and problems with short-term memory being a few. Physicians can diagnose a person based on these signs and symptoms, as well as any history available to them on the exposure of these ticks. Immediately after the exposure to the ticks, two-step blood tests may be negative because antibodies can take weeks to develop, which is why diagnostic blood tests only taken a couple of weeks after a bite are recommended. While simple blood tests work well, ELISA and Western-blot blood tests are recommended to recognize the disease as early as possible to determine whether a person is infected. If one suffers from neurological symptoms or joint