What is Lyme illness?

Lyme disease is an infection your kid tin can become after being bitten by a tick carrying a certain blazon of bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi). The disease is named for the Connecticut town where the affliction was first identified in 1975.

But unless you live in an area where Lyme disease is prevalent, the chances of your child getting Lyme are slim because almost ticks aren't infected. (Only blacklegged ticks transmit the infection, and not all blacklegged ticks are infected.)

Even if an infected tick does bite your kid, information technology has to stay embedded in his skin for a significant fourth dimension (usually more than 36 hours) for your child to contract the disease.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have precautions – untreated Lyme affliction can exist serious. Fortunately, yous can take steps to prevent the illness, and it responds well to treatment one time it'due south diagnosed.

How common is Lyme disease?

The incidence of Lyme affliction in the Us has increased from about 16,000 cases annually in 1996 to about 36,000 annually in 2016. And these are only cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by land health departments, which means they're just a fraction of bodily cases.

Studies published by the CDC in 2014 and 2015 propose that the number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease each year in the United States is really around 300,000. Boys between ages 5 and ix make up the largest number of cases.

Cases have been diagnosed in virtually every state in the land, simply the illness is near common in the Northeast and the Upper Midwest.

According to the CDC, 95 pct of confirmed Lyme illness cases in 2015 were reported from 14 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Bailiwick of jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Infected ticks can too be institute in nearby states and in some areas of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington.

Lyme illness isn't the only reason to avoid ticks – they can cause more than a dozen other diseases, including anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI), tularemia, and 364D rickettsiosis.

What are the symptoms?

Doctors call Lyme affliction the "smashing imitator" because it mimics other diseases, making information technology difficult to diagnose.

About lxx to 80 percent of the time, symptoms include a telltale rash that can announced anywhere on the trunk. The rash typically appears from three days to ane calendar month after the seize with teeth. It may be a solid red expanding blemish, or look similar a cardinal oval or round crimson spot surrounded by clear pare and then a band of an expanding cherry-red rash, resembling a bull's-center. On dark skin, the rash may merely look like a bruise.

tick bite bull

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The size of the rash expanse may starting time out at a fraction of an inch and abound to 6 or fifty-fifty 12 inches in diameter. It usually isn't painful or itchy, just it may be warm to the bear on and persist for three to five weeks.

Don't panic if your child is bitten by a tick and has a small bump or an area of redness (like a musquito bite) at the site. Although you'll want to keep an eye on this, it'due south probably just irritation from the tick seize with teeth that will disappear in a couple of days.

Other possible early on symptoms (which can appear up to a month later the bite) include fever, headache, fatigue, muscle and articulation aches, swollen lymph nodes, and other skin rashes.

The infection can besides bear on the joints, heart, and nervous system. Symptoms tin show up years after being bitten and include:

  • Severe headaches
  • Neck stiffness
  • Other rashes
  • Arthritis (especially in big joints, like the knees)
  • Facial palsy (loss of muscle tone or droop on i or both sides of the face)
  • Pain in tendons, muscles, joints, and bones
  • Heart palpitations or an irregular heartbeat
  • Dizziness or shortness of breath
  • Meningitis
  • Nerve pain
  • Shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet
  • Short-term memory loss

What should I practice if I find a tick on my child?

If the tick is crawling on your child's body and it's withal small and flat, that means information technology hasn't go engorged from feeding on blood so there's no run a risk that your child has been infected. But use a tissue to pick it up and so flush it down the toilet.

If you find a tick attached to your child'southward skin, remove it equally shortly as possible past pulling information technology out gently with tweezers. Firmly grasp it as close to the tick'south mouth as you tin. Then, without squeezing the body, pull it slowly and evenly away from the skin. Flush the tick down the toilet.

For more information, see our article on tick bites.

When should I call a doctor?

Call the doctor immediately if your child has a suspicious rash or other symptoms of Lyme disease.

Bank check in with the dr. if you observe an engorged tick that you call back may have been embedded in your child's skin for more than a day, especially if you live in an expanse where the status is mutual.

In almost cases, information technology's unlikely the doctor will prescribe an antibiotic preventively after a tick bite. But your child's md may recommend a unmarried dose of doxycycline (given within 72 hours of the seize with teeth) to lower the risk of Lyme disease if:

  • You live in an area where Lyme illness is common.
  • The tick has been fastened to your child for at least 36 hours.
  • The tick is confirmed to be the type that may carry Lyme illness.

How is Lyme illness diagnosed?

If your kid has the distinctive rash, the medico will probably be able to diagnose the condition based on that alone.

There is a blood test for Lyme disease, but information technology's unreliable in the early stages of the disease and generally isn't washed. (It takes two to six weeks after the infection develops to go a positive exam issue.)

If your child's doctor does gild a examination, there are two steps. The preliminary test, called enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), screens for an elevated claret level of antibodies produced by the body in response to the Lyme leaner. If that exam is positive, she may do a more specific and sensitive type of blood test (Western blot) to confirm the results.

How is Lyme treated?

Once diagnosed, Lyme disease is treated with oral antibiotics for three to four weeks or with intravenous antibiotics. The doctor may besides have your child take an anti-inflammatory drug, such as ibuprofen, if she thinks your child may take joint pain.

Most children recover within a few weeks after taking antibiotics. Occasionally, symptoms like fatigue and muscle aches persist longer.

Is there a vaccine against Lyme disease?

Not at the moment. There was a vaccine, called LYMErix, although it was never approved for immature children. The manufacturer pulled it from the market place later on some controversy about its safety. A new vaccine, nonetheless, is currently being tested in Europe.

How can I forbid my kid from getting Lyme?

Later yous understand how your child could go the disease, yous tin can take steps to prevent information technology. The prime number season for Lyme illness is Apr through October, with the peak months in May, June, and July, when the ticks are active and not yet mature (so they're smaller and harder to see).

Meet our article on tick bites for detailed advice on how to avoid them.