Greensboro Lyme Disease Treatment Clinic

If you have not done so already, remove the tick with fine-tipped tweezers. The chances that you might get Lyme disease from a single tick bite depend on the type of tick, where you acquired it, and how long it was attached to you. Many types of ticks bite people in the U.S., but only blacklegged ticks transmit the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Furthermore, only blacklegged ticks in the highly endemic areas of the northeastern and north central U.S. are commonly infected. Finally, blacklegged ticks need to be attached for at least 24 hours before they can transmit Lyme disease. This is why it’s so important to remove them promptly and to check your body daily for ticks if you live in an endemic area. If you develop illness within a few weeks of a tick bite, see your health care provider right away. Common symptoms of Lyme disease include a rash, fever, body aches, facial paralysis, and arthritis. Ticks can also transmit other diseases, so it’s important to be alert for any illness that follows a tick bite.

There is no credible scientific evidence that Lyme disease is spread through sexual contact. Published studies in animals do not support sexual transmission (Moody 1991; Woodrum 1999), and the biology of the Lyme disease spirochete is not compatible this route of exposure (Porcella 2001). The ticks that transmit Lyme disease are very small and easily overlooked. Consequently, it is possible for sexual partners living in the same household to both become infected through tick bites, even if one or both partners doesn’t remember being bitten.

Although no cases of Lyme disease have been linked to blood transfusion, scientists have found that the Lyme disease bacteria can live in blood from a person with an active infection that is stored for donation. Individuals being treated for Lyme disease with an antibiotic should not donate blood. Individuals who have completed antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease may be considered as potential blood donors. The Red Crossexternal icon provides additional information on the most recent criteria for blood donation.

No. Lyme disease is spread through the bite of a blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis or Ixodes pacificus) that is infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. In the United States, most infections occur in the following endemic areas: Northeast and mid-Atlantic, from northeastern Virginia to Maine North central states, mostly in Wisconsin and Minnesota West Coast, particularly northern California Maps showing the distribution of human cases are based on where people live, which because of travel, is not necessarily where they became infected. Cases are sometimes diagnosed and reported from an area where Lyme disease is not expected, but they are almost always travel-related.

Lyme disease risk can be reduced by: Wearing permethrin treated clothing, minimizing exposed skin, and using tick repellent when enjoying the outdoors Staying on the trail when hiking and avoiding tall grass and leaf litter Creating a tick-free zone around your home Doing daily tick checks Removing ticks with tweezers as soon as possible Putting clothes in a high heat dryer for 15 minutes.

Early symptoms can mimic summer flu and other bacterial and viral illnesses: fever, achiness, extreme fatigue and malaise, severe headache or neck ache A red round expanding skin rash may, or may not, be present When present, the expanding skin rash is usually greater than 2 inches in size Rash is not usually extremely itchy Rash lasts for days to weeks and can be accompanied by flu-like symptoms.