Lyme disease should be treated early and with antibiotics because it can cause complications in the joints, heart, and neurological system. The first indication is that it manifests with a concentric dermatological lesion that measures 10 to 16 centimeters with prevalence in the lower extremities.
The lesion may be greater when it occurs in the trunk area. Its origin is due to the bite of ticks that are infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, a bacterium that, due to its complexity, causes a silent pathology with risks for humans, which can be accompanied by viral symptoms, or go unnoticed as a simple allergy in the skin, so if not treated it can become chronic.
The bacterium infects the tick and this in turn is transmitted to humans by means of a mammal, therefore, it is a zoonotic disease. Although the first indication of the disease is for ticks, specialists emphasize that this is a reservoir of borrelia and if it bites the person, it transmits the disease, so many elements must be considered.
In this regard, Rommel Franco, infectologist at the La Colina Medical Center, Charallave, Miranda state, explained in an interview with Últimas Noticias that, although infected ticks can also use canines, closer to humans, as their habitat, it is more likely that it is those that adhere to white-tailed deer that harbor the adult forms of the pathogen, while other mammals, such as hares and mice, are targeted for their development in the early stages.
The diagnosis is determined by epidemiology, considering visits, travel or habitat in endemic areas, although it is more common in rural and suburban areas of the United States, Asia, as well as in Europe, where the highest incidence is concentrated in Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. , especially in forest workers, said the infectologist Franco.
He specified that the ones with the highest incidence are the deer tick in the northeast and north, and the blacklegs in the western United States, and in Mexico, while the Ixodes ricinus is seen in Europe and the Ixodes persulcatus in Asia.
Developing.
infectologist indicates that the disease evolves in four phases: egg, larva, nymph and adult, in about two years. The nymph stage is the most dangerous for human beings due to the complexity of the problem because the agent is difficult to detect due to its size, less than a centimeter, adds the specialist from the Candelaria de Cúa Medical Center, in the Valles del Tuy .
Incubation varies between 3 and 30 days, and at the time of diagnosis, it is considered an early, disseminated and late stage. In this sense, there are cases of patients who spend time with the symptoms and do not associate them or are not aware of having suffered a tick bite.
In this way, they can spend years confusing the disease with others due to the type of symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, facial paralysis, joint pain and more. Some investigations have reported that it can also be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy and by sexual transmission.
Treatment.
In general, it is treated with oral and intravenous antibiotics, decisive in its early stage. Most of those infected recover completely if they receive the appropriate antibiotics such as penicillin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. For its detection, the current methods are PCR, culture, CSF study, molecular and serology.
neurological effects. In addition to its consequences on the heart and joints, Lyme disease can cause paralysis of the lower extremities, which go upwards, also depending on the age of the patient and the inoculation of the bacteria, comments neurologist Ernesto Guerra.
He adds that, depending on the sequelae, the treatment is rehabilitation therapy such as physiotherapy, which is also known as passive therapy. “You have to act immediately in case of some kind of inferior paralysis,” he said.
Other conditions
In Europe they have warned of an increase in ticks due to weather conditions and because they are endemic areas, although there is awareness of the problem, so experts point out that it is important to prevent. Ticks can transmit other diseases. In Spain, for example, the brown dog tick causes boutonneuse fever characterized by fever and scattered spots on the skin. In addition, they can infect Debonel, which causes an eschar in the area of the bite and causes a very painful swelling of the nodes. The important thing is to make the diagnosis in time so that you receive antimicrobial and intravenous treatment. In general, a specific microbiological study is requested, in which a scan of all types of tick bacteria is done, said neurologist Ernesto Guerra.