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Check list of symptoms, - check here
Highlight each symptom and bring the check list to your next doctors appointment.
Symptoms:
Acute (early) Lyme disease symptoms:
* rash - This rash, called erythema migrans (EM), is usually oval or circular, uniform in color and centered on the initial
bite site. Although the “bull’s eye” rash is the classic Lyme disease rash, it occurs in only 10-20% of the patients who
have a rash during their illness. The bullseye rash is not the most common rash. The most common rash is oval and
uniformly colored. The rash appears 2-3 days after the bite. The usually expands and clears over several weeks.
Blood tests likely negative during this stage of Lyme disease. If a patient has multiple rashes, this is considered later
lyme and should be treated differently.
One third of all Lyme disease patients never have an EM rash.
* fever
* malaise
* fatigue
* headache
* muscle and joint aches
The incubation period from tick bite to the onset of symptoms is usually 1-2 weeks but it can be as long as one month.
It is possible for an infected person to have no symptoms or display only one or two symptoms; this can make obtaining
a correct diagnosis difficult.
Persistent (late) Lyme disease symptoms:
* fatigue
* muscle and joint aches
* Bell’s palsy
* pain
* numbness, tingling or burning sensations
* meningitis
* tremor, muscle twitches
* short-term memory loss
* depression, anxiety, panic attacks
* hallucinations
and many others.
The symptoms of late Lyme disease can appear months to years from infection. Left untreated, Lyme disease can
cause chronic disability, but it is rarely fatal. Cases of persistent infection have been known to linger for 20 years
before being correctly diagnosed.
Diagnosis
The most reliable method for diagnosing Lyme disease is a thorough medical history and physical exam.
The history includes details about possible tick exposure, current medical problems and a complete review of all
symptoms. The physical exam includes a good general exam plus detailed dermatologic, neurologic and joint exams.
The laboratory tests used to assist in the diagnosis of Lyme disease include the ELISA and Western blots. The ELISA
is called the “screening test”; if it is positive then Western blots are done. Unfortunately, neither is a reliable indicator
of illness; test results vary between labs and within the same lab and false positives and false negatives are common.
A 2003 study by CDC researchers demonstrated that the C6 ELISA, a commonly used test for Lyme disease,
performed well for patients with arthritis but missed patients with acute disease and many with early or late neurologic
Lyme disease. Because of these sorts of testing problems, Lyme disease must be diagnosed on clinical grounds. Lab
tests may confirm a clinical diagnosis but by themselves they cannot rule the disease in or out.
Treatment
The treatment of Lyme disease requires the use of antibiotics.
In cases where an EM rash is present, treatment should begin immediately. Blood tests are not recommended
because they are often falsely negative. Most studies on the treatment of early Lyme disease used at least 20 days of
antibiotic therapy. Treatment is usually successful; overall cure rates for this stage are roughly 90%.
Late Lyme disease is much more difficult to treat and while most patients improve with antibiotic therapy, cure rates are
much lower. The duration of treatment can be quite long; some patients
may need to be on antibiotics for months or even years. Others may require intermittent courses of antibiotics. Each
case is unique and care need to be individualized.
Tick Bites Do's and Dont's - click here
Lyme Disease and Co-infections - LDA click here
More WI Areas Prone to Lyme - Click here to read more
3 host Tick Cycle - click here
Tick Life Cycle - click here
Lyme cases spike 77% from 2006 to 2008
Reported Lyme disease cases by state 1999-2008 read more
In 2008 the CDC changed its Lyme reporting process: to include both “confirmed” and “probable” cases in the
total, and during this transition year, it’s difficult to tell how this affected the accuracy of the case count. Fifteen states
failed to report any “probable” cases - read more
Other tick-borne illnesses - click here to go to the CDC website
BuggSpray Insect Repellent for Ticks
Metropolitan Mosquito Control District
Free Tick ID
1. If your tick has potentially fed (contains blood) call 651-643-8384 for further instruction or place it into a hard
container such as a film container or pill bottle before continuing to follow these directions.
2. Ensure the tick is killed prior to mailing -store tick in rubbing alcohol for approximately one day to make sure it's
dead.
3. Wrap the tick in some tissue or paper toweling and lightly soak the package in water or rubbing alcohol. We want the
tick to arrive slightly damp.
4. Place your package in a re-sealable plastic bag such as a sandwich bag.
5. Enclose your name, address, and a daytime phone number.
6. Place in a padded envelope and either mail it or drop it off at our office. We will try to phone you the same day we
receive your sample.
Mail to: Metropolitan Mosquito Control District
Attn: Tick Lab 2099 University Ave. West
St. Paul, MN 55104 Phone: 651-645-9149
Centers for Disease Control - Lyme Disease Diagnosis
Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, objective physical findings (such as erythema migrans, facial palsy, or
arthritis), and a history of possible exposure to infected ticks. Validated laboratory tests can be very helpful but are not
generally recommended when a patient has erythema migrans. For detailed recommendations on serologic testing,
click here.
When making a diagnosis of Lyme disease, health care providers should consider other diseases that may cause
similar illness. Not all patients with Lyme disease will develop the characteristic bulls-eye rash, and many may not
recall a tick bite. Laboratory testing is not recommended for persons who do not have symptoms of Lyme disease.
Laboratory Testing
Several forms of laboratory testing for Lyme disease are available, some of which have not been adequately validated.
Most recommended tests are blood tests that measure antibodies made in response to the infection. These tests may
be falsely negative in patients with early disease, but they are quite reliable for diagnosing later stages of disease.
CDC recommends a two-step process when testing blood for evidence of Lyme disease. Both steps can be done using
the same blood sample.
1) The first step uses an ELISA or IFA test. These tests are designed to be very "sensitive," meaning that almost
everyone with Lyme disease, and some people who don't have Lyme disease, will test positive. If the ELISA or IFA is
negative, it is highly unlikely that the person has Lyme disease, and no further testing is recommended. If the ELISA or
IFA is positive or indeterminate (sometimes called "equivocal"), a second step should be performed to confirm the
results.
2) The second step uses a Western blot test. Used appropriately, this test is designed to be "specific," meaning that it
will usually be positive only if a person has been truly infected. If the Western blot is negative, it suggests that the first
test was a false positive, which can occur for several reasons. Sometimes two types of Western blot are performed,
"IgM" and "IgG." Patients who are positive by IgM but not IgG should have the test repeated a few weeks later if they
remain ill. If they are still positive only by IgM and have been ill longer than one month, this is likely a false positive.
CDC does not recommend testing blood by Western blot without first testing it by ELISA or IFA. Doing so increases the
potential for false positive results. Such results may lead to patients being treated for Lyme disease when they don't
have it and not getting appropriate treatment for the true cause of their illness. For detailed recommendations for test
performance and interpretation of serologic tests for Lyme disease, click here.
Other Types of Laboratory Testing
Some laboratories offer Lyme disease testing using assays whose accuracy and clinical usefulness have not been
adequately established. These tests include urine antigen tests, immunofluorescent staining for cell wall-deficient forms
of Borrelia burgdorferi, and lymphocyte transformation tests. In general, CDC does not recommend these tests. Click
here for more information. Patients are encouraged to ask their physicians whether their testing for Lyme disease was
performed using validated methods and whether results were interpreted using appropriate guidelines.
Testing Ticks
Patients who have removed a tick often wonder if they should have it tested. In general, the identification and testing of
individual ticks is not useful for deciding if a person should get antibiotics following a tick bite. Nevertheless, some state
or local health departments offer tick identification and testing as a community service or for research purposes. Check
with your health department; the phone number is usually found in the government pages of the telephone book.
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