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What is Lyme Disease?
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by the bite of an infected deer
tick. Untreated, the disease can cause a number of health problems. Patients
treated with antibiotics in the early stage of the infection usually recover
rapidly and completely.
Where is Lyme Disease found?
In the United States, infected ticks can be found in the northeast, including
New York State; in the upper Midwest; and along the northwest coast.
What are the symptoms of Lyme Disease?
The early symptoms of Lyme disease may be mild and easily missed. If you find
a tick attached to your skin, remove the tick with tweezers and watch for the
symptoms of Lyme disease. In 60- 80% of cases the first symptom is a rash, known
as erythema migrans, that:
- Occurs at or near the site of the tick bite.
- Is a “bulls- eye” circular
patch or solid red patch that grows larger.
- Appears between three days and
one month after the tick bite.
- Has a diameter of two to six inches.
- Lasts for about three to five weeks.
- May or may not be warm to the touch.
- Is usually not painful or itchy.
- Sometimes multiple rashes appear.
Ticks will attach themselves anywhere including the thighs, groin, trunk, armpits
and behind the ears. If you are infected, the rash may be found in one of these
areas.
Around the time the rash appears, other symptoms, such as joint pain, chills,
fever and fatigue can occur, but they may seem too mild to require medical attention.
As Lyme disease progresses, severe fatigue, a stiff aching neck, and tingling
or numbness in the arms and legs, or facial paralysis can occur.
The most severe symptoms of Lyme disease may not appear until weeks, months or
years after the tick bite. These can include severe headaches, painful arthritis,
swelling of the joints, and heart and central nervous system problems.
How is Lyme Disease Diagnosed?
If you think you have Lyme disease, you should see your health care provider
immediately. Early diagnosis of Lyme disease should be made on the basis of symptoms
and history of possible exposure to ticks. Blood tests may give false negative
results if performed in the first month after the tick bite.
How is Lyme Disease treated?
Early treatment of Lyme disease involves antibiotics and almost always results
in a full cure. However, the chances of a complete cure decrease if treatment
is delayed.
In a small number of cases, Lyme disease can become a chronic condition.
However, some patients have reported slow improvement and even an end to symptoms,
months
or even years after treatment.
How Can I Prevent Lyme Disease?
Deer ticks live in shady, moist areas at ground level. They will cling to tall
grass, brush and shrubs, usually no more than 18-24 inches off the ground. They
also live in lawns and gardens, especially at the edges of woods and around old
stone walls.
Deer ticks cannot jump or fly, and do not drop onto passing people or animals.
They get on humans and animals only by direct contact. Once a tick gets on the
skin, it generally climbs upward until it reaches a protected area.
In tick-infested areas, your best protection is to avoid contact with soil, leaf
litter and vegetation. However, if you garden, hike, camp, hunt, work, or otherwise
spend time in the outdoors, you can still protect yourself:
- Wear light-colored clothing with a tight weave to spot ticks easily.
- Wear enclosed shoes, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Tuck pant legs
into socks or boots and shirt into pants.
- Check clothes and any exposed
skin frequently for ticks while outdoors.
- Consider using insect repellent.
- Stay on cleared, well-traveled trails.
Avoid contacting vegetation.
- Avoid sitting directly on the ground or on
stone walls.
- Keep long hair tied back, especially when gardening.
- Do a final, full-body
tick check at the end of the day (also check children and pets), and remove
ticks promptly.
What Do Ticks Look Like?
- Two common types of ticks are the dog tick and the deer tick.
- Deer ticks
can carry Lyme disease.
- Female deer ticks have 4 pairs of legs and are red
and black in color.
- Young deer ticks are brown and the size of a poppy seed.
- An adult deer tick
is only about the size of a sesame seed.
How To Remove a Tick:
- Use a pair of pointed tweezers to grasp the tick by the head right where
they
enter the skin.
- Do not grasp the tick by the body.
- Pull firmly and steadily outward.
- Place tick in rubbing alcohol to kill
it.
- Clean the bite with disinfectant.
- Monitor the site for a rash.
For additional information or questions,
please call the Rensselaer County Department of Health
at 270-2643 or 270-2655
Ticks may be submitted for testing to determine the type of tick and approximately
how long it may have been attached. Place ticks in a plastic container with a
cotton ball that has been saturated with alcohol and send to:
Tick ID Service
NYSDOH
Griffin Laboratory Building 17
PO Box 509
Albany, New York 12201-0509
For medical information please contact your medical provider.
Please follow the links below for Lyme Disease information for Rensselaer County
and its communities.
New York State:
- Department
of Health - Ticks & Lyme
Disease Information
- Ticks & Lyme Disease(PDF),
- Tick and Insect Repellents:
Deciding on Their Use, 2003 version - (PDF),
- Health Advisory - Tick
and Insect Repellents,
2003
version - (PDF),
- DEET TIPS For Proper Protection, 2003 version - (PDF),
- Lyme Disease Alert Graphic
For more information please check our department home
page or search our site.
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