Causes Of Lyme Disease

Lyme disease also termed as Lyme borreliosis which is an infection that derives from a tick bite. The disease is caused by a type of germ or bacteria called a spirochete. This bacterium is usually found in wild animals such as mice and deer. Lyme disease is diagnosed based on physical symptoms, physical findings on the skin and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks; laboratory testing is helpful in the later stages of disease. Most of the diseased cases occur in the Northeast, upper Midwest, and along the Pacific coast. Mice and deer are the most usually infected animals that work as host to the tick.

Most infections of the disease occur in the summer, late spring, and early fall. Ixodes dammini tick is biotic organism that is responsible for most of the cases of Lyme disease in the northeastern United States. These disease causing ticks are found in grassy areas (including lawns), and in brushy, shrubby and woodland sites, even on warm winter days. If the condition left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system. Lyme disease considered as a vector-borne disease, meaning that it is transmitted from one host to another by a germ carrier called a vector that transmits but does not become infected with the disease.

Lyme disease is a work-related concern for people who work outdoors in certain areas infested with ticks. A tick can settle anywhere on the human body, but they prefers warm, moist and dark places like the crotch or armpits. If Lyme disease spreads to the cardiac region, the person may feel an irregular or slow heartbeat. The infectious disease varies widely in its presentation, which may include a rash and flu-like symptoms in its initial stage, followed by arthritic, musculoskeletal, neurologic, psychiatric and/or cardiac manifestations. The disease can badly affect people of any age. The number of cases of the Lyme disease in an area depends on the amount of ticks in an area and how often the ticks are infected with the bacteria. The Lyme disease can sometimes be hard to diagnose because the visible symptoms may mimic other diseases. Lyme disease may cause various symptoms affecting the nervous system, skin, heart and/or joints of an individual.

The disease was formerly named after the town of Old Lyme, Connecticut where a cluster of cases was identified in the year of 1975, although clinical features of the disease had been described in Europe as early as 1909. There are around 16,000 cases of Lyme disease per year in the United States. People who have to spend time in grassy and wooded environments are at an increased risk of exposure. The common causes of Lyme disease include an infection from a micro-organism called Borrelia burghdor feri, itself transmitted by a bite from the wood tick, a blood-sucking parasite which normally lives on deer. Also the most common risk factors for Lyme disease include walking in the grasses, other activities that increase tick exposure, and having a pet that may carry ticks home. Also those people who spend long time in grassy and wooded environments are at an increased risk of Lyme disease exposure.

• Juliana Breckinridge
• 26/01/2009, 4:59 PM
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