Most Lyme disease cases can be treated successfully with antibiotics within 2-4 weeks. If this area of erythema grows to at least 5 centimeters (the size of the palm of your hand), you should seek medical attention. This is caused by the saliva of a tick and is not erythema migrans. Tick bites often lead to tiny dime-sized areas of erythema, which appear like a small red circle – some of which have a pale center. While it may feel warm, the rash is not generally painful or itchy.Īfter it appears, an EM rash may gradually grow large in size (more than 5-10 centimeters) and then take on the look of a bull’s eye as it begins to clear. Lyme disease symptoms can include headache, swollen lymph nodes, fever, fatigue, chills, joint and muscle aches and a skin rash known as erythema migrans (EM).Ībout 70-80 percent of Lyme disease cases present with the EM rash, which generally appears within 3-30 days (the average is 7 days) at the site of the tick bite. What are the symptoms of Lyme disease and how long do they last? To learn more, we asked Todd Ellerin, MD, Director of Infectious Disease at South Shore Health six questions about Lyme disease. According to the CDC, as many as 476,000 people contract Lyme disease in the U.S. In 2019 – the most recent year of statistics available from the CDC’s National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) – there were 34,945 cases of Lyme disease reported (23,453 confirmed, 11,492 probable).īut those figures don’t account for all Lyme cases. More than 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) annually by state health departments. Prevalent throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions and upper Midwest, blacklegged ticks and the illnesses they carry are expanding into other regions of the country, leading to an increase in Lyme disease cases. The most common vector-borne illness in the U.S., Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted through the bite of a blacklegged tick – also known as the deer tick. Learn about clinical trials currently looking for people with Lyme disease at mild winter in the Northeast helped kick tick season off early, and health officials will be watching to see if that leads to an uptick in Lyme Disease and other tick-borne illnesses. Clinical research uses human volunteers to help researchers learn more about a disorder and perhaps find better ways to safely detect, treat, or prevent disease.Īll types of volunteers are needed-those who are healthy or may have an illness or disease-of all different ages, sexes, races, and ethnicities to ensure that study results apply to as many people as possible, and that treatments will be safe and effective for everyone who will use them.įor information about participating in clinical research visit NIH Clinical Research Trials and You. How can I or a loved one help improve care for people with Lyme disease?Ĭonsider participating in a clinical trial so clinicians and scientists can learn more about Lyme disease and related disorders. Varying degrees of permanent joint or nervous system damage may develop in individuals with late-stage Lyme disease. Many individuals with Lyme disease respond well to antibiotics. Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics under the supervision of a physician. Other neurological problems, which may not appear for weeks, months, or years after a bite, include decreased concentration, memory and sleep disorders, and nerve damage in the arms and legs. Meningitis-like symptoms such as fever, stiff neck, and severe headache. Bell's palsy (temporary paralysis or weakness on one side of the face).Neurological complications most often occur in the second stage of Lyme disease and include: The first stage of Lyme disease may begin with flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pain from seven to 14 days, or in some cases 30 days, following a bite. Most people with Lyme disease develop a characteristic skin rash around the area of the bite that may look similar to a "bull's eye" (a red ring with a clear center). Lyme disease is caused by a bacterial organism that is transmitted through the bite of an infected tick. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health ( NIH), is a leading federal funder of research on Lyme disease.
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