There are more than half a million cases of Lyme Disease worldwide each year. The very first official cases were diagnosed in the small town of Old Lyme, Connecticut, in only 1975. Although it is suspected that Lyme Disease was prevalent across Europe under numerous aliases from the early 1990’s
Lyme is an infection that’s caught from a tick bite and has a whole host of symptoms, including changes to your skin, joints, heart and in severe cases, your nervous system.
The tick, or wood tick, is a blood-sucking parasite that can be found on livestock, in particular deer and cattle. Although a tick will happily set up camp and feast anywhere on the body, it does prefer warm, moist and dark places like the crotch or armpits (lovely). When content with its habitat, the tick will then probe to draw up blood, in turn making you quickly susceptible to infection.
During the summer break, with families enjoying the British ‘staycation’ and visits to country camp-sites, petting zoos and farms increase, so should our awareness of how to avoid and identify any nasty little side effects of our summer holidays.
As much as seeing a tick would naturally cause you to scream and assume infection, this doesn’t mean you’ve contracted Lyme. However, the bad news is you can’t actually tell whether you’ve been bitten or not, so look out for following symptoms:
- A clear red spot will appear around the tick's bite, which will grow increasingly bigger; often with a pale area in the middle. This symptom is called erythema migrans
- Erythema migrans can also appear at other places on the body where the tick has not bitten. Some people can attain dozens of red spots
- Usually one to six weeks will pass between the bite and when erythema migrans appears.
Some people with Lyme have claimed that it feels similar to Influenza, a viral disease that can last from three to five days and normally attacks the muscles and joints, leaving you fatigued for several weeks and causes lingering drowsiness, headaches, muscular pains and swollen lymph glands. In more extreme case, Lyme can cause inflammation of the heart tissues and worse still, heart failure.
It goes without saying that you should consult your doctor at the earliest opportunity, especially if you suspect someone close to has it or has suffered from it. Particularly if you have a weaker immune system, if you’re elderly or on other medication. In order to make a more assessed diagnosis, your doctor is likely to take a blood sample to establish whether you’ve developed an antibody towards Lyme. Antibodies can typically be found between two and six weeks after contracting the disease.
Your doctor is likely to prescribe antibiotics, however should the symptoms persist or worsen then they will refer you to hospital for further treatment. Although Lyme Disease isn’t contagious and is particularly difficult to avoid if you’re surrounded by animals, good hand hygiene practice and sanitation can make a difference.
For further information on our hygiene solutions and the chance to speak to our very own in-house hygiene specialists, please get in touch with us today.
