Lyme Disease is commonly misdiagnosed

WHAT IS LYME?

We understand how difficult it is to find correct information online. The CDC and Mayo Clinic disagree on what symptoms + proper treatments are (and both of their summaries are currently inaccurate). We are sharing resources we have found helpful, as well as provided links to Bay Area Lyme’s website to answer further questions.

From Bay Area Lyme:

Borrelia Burgdorferi

Lyme disease is an infection caused by several strains of the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb). The bacteria is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected tick. These ticks can also transmit other diseases and infect pets and livestock. Lyme often will come with co-infections.*

The tick that transmits Lyme is so small you may not notice it. The tick’s saliva contains an anesthetic-like substance that numbs your skin so you may not feel the bite. The ticks that spread Lyme are typically no larger than a sesame seed (or the size of a period at the end of a sentence). It is thought that nymphs infect more humans than adult ticks because they are so hard to see.

How do i get it?

The Blacklegged Tick

In the United States, the Western blacklegged tick, or Ixodes pacificus, is responsible for spreading Lyme disease on the West Coast. On the East Coast and in several mid-western states, it is the Eastern blacklegged tick, also known as the “deer tick,” or Ixodes scapularis, that spreads Lyme.

All in all, according to Lyle Peterson from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are 80 million Americans living in areas of highest risk for Lyme disease where these ticks are common.

Host Animals

A tick emerges from an egg and feeds on different animals (or “hosts”) during its larval, nymph, and adult stages. A tick can live for several years on just a handful of blood meals.

The tick most often becomes infected during its larval or nymph stage, when it feeds off small animals like squirrels, mice, or birds that carry the bacteria which causes Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi or Bb). These animals can also carry other bacteria. Click here to watch a video detailing the ways ticks stick to the skin (with accompanying article from The New York Times, published October 29, 2013).

The tick, now infected, then passes on the bacteria to a human or another animal during its next feeding cycle. The small animal most responsible for transmitting the Bb bacteria to ticks varies by region.

  • In California, the grey squirrel is the biggest culprit. For example, studies have shown that 86% of tick larvae carrying Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) were infected by the western grey squirrel. (Salkeld et al, 2008)
  • On the East Coast, the white-footed mouse is the primary host.
  • Birds and many small mammals can also harbor Lyme bacteria. Notably, the white-tailed deer supports the tick, but not the spirochete. These hosts provide the ticks with a bountiful supply of food (i.e., blood meals), enabling the ticks to live, reproduce, and/or infect a human.
  • Interestingly, research by Dr. Robert Lane and others at the University of California at Berkeley, has documented that when ticks feed off a Western Fence lizard, the Bb bacteria inside them is destroyed. These lizards use the complement pathway of their immune system to destroy the Bb bacteria with proteins that burst the bacterial cells. Understanding this phenomenon may provide insights into treatments for humans.

Possibly, from Mother to Child

The research noted that the placenta can become infected and cases of miscarriage have resulted from Lyme.

The CDC's advice is that anyone with a known Lyme disease infection, including pregnant women, should be treated with antibiotics. "While there's no evidence to link Lyme disease in pregnant women to birth defects, there is evidence that untreated Lyme disease can lead to miscarriage," C. Ben Beard, chief of the bacterial diseases branch of the CDC's division of vector-borne diseases, said in an email.

Lyme disease facts and figures

All text and data from Bay Area Lyme.

We highly encourage that you review their website for information.

329,000+ new cases each year in the US*

Lyme disease is one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in the US and Western Europe. In September 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised their estimates, indicating that more than 329,000 new cases were contracted each year in the US — an increase of up to 10 times what was previously believed.

The number is believe to be higher than 329,000.*

Public funding far below that of less common illnesses

Lyme disease receives less than 2% of public funding for West Nile and 0.2% of funding for HIV/AIDS, despite the fact that the annual case count for Lyme dwarfs either disease.

800,000+ patients struggling with long-term late-stage Lyme*

Current diagnostics miss up to 60% of acute cases

The current “gold standard” diagnostic for Lyme disease is a two-tiered ELISA/Western Blot blood test measuring human antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi. This diagnostic is an indirect measure of infection, detecting the body’s immunologic response to infection rather than detecting the Lyme bacteria itself. It misses up to 60% of cases of early-stage Lyme disease, as it can take weeks for the body to develop measurable antibodies against the infection.

Early treatment typically successful but many patients go undiagnosed for years

  • Most never recall being bitten
  • Less than half ever show the telltale bullseye rash
  • As many as 20% continue to experience symptoms even after treatment

History of Lyme Disease

Ticks and Lyme disease have been around for thousands of years. In fact, a recent autopsy on a 5,300-year-old mummy indicated the presence of the bacteria which causes Lyme disease. A German physician, Alfred Buchwald, first described the chronic skin rash, or erythema migrans, of what is now known to be Lyme disease more than 130 years ago. However, Lyme disease was only recognized in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. And the bacteria that causes it – Borrelia burgdorferi – wasn’t officially classified until 1981.

*Text Edited by The Lyme Initiative to reflect up-to-date data