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Today, 22 November 2009

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Yesterday, 21 November 2009

› SACP attacks Malema

› Match-fixing stuns Europe

› JZ hails Miss World effect

› Henry offers replay

› No armchair ride for Boks

Question

Please may I have some information about Lyme disease?

Answer

Lyme disease is transmitted by ticks and caused by a spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi.

The disease was recognised in 1975 because of a cluster of cases in Lyme Connecticut, USA.

The spirochete enters the skin at the site of the tick bite. The incubation period is between 3 and 32 days, after which the spirochete migrates outwards in the skin, causing a rash called erythema chronicum migrans (ECM). It may spread in the lymph system or in the blood to organs and other skin sites.

ECM begins as a red mark or bump on the skin which expands, clearing in the centre, to a diameter of up to 50 cm. At least 75% of people with Lyme disease have this rash, and 32% can remember being bitten at the site by a tick. Nearly half of people who develop the rash, see it spread to other areas of the skin.

The most common symptoms accompanying ECM are flu-like malaise, fatigue, chills and fever, headache, stiff neck, muscle and joint pains. Full blown arthritis is rare at this stage. Less common are backache, nausea and vomiting, sore throat, swollen glands and an enlarged spleen. The symptoms are characteristically intermittent and changing, but malaise and fatigue may linger for weeks.

About 15% of people develop problems with the nervous system, and about 8% of people may develop heart problems.

Arthritis occurs in about half of those with Lyme disease within weeks to months of the onset of ECM. Intermittent swelling and pain in a few large joints, especially the knee, typically recur for several years.

Treatment is with antibiotics, the earlier the better.

See also Lyme disease and tick bite fever.

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