The arrival of spring means more time for children and adults to spend time outdoors and enjoy the warm weather, It also portends an ominous threat; the risk of contracting Lyme Disease.
Tick-borne Lyme Disease can be misunderstood, but according to Jose Munoz, MD, Chief of Infections Diseases at Children and Women’s Physicians of Westchester (CWPW) in Valhalla, the little tick can create big medical problems if the illness goes undiagnosed.
Knowing a few simple facts can go a long way toward preventing Lyme Disease, and recognizing its symptoms should you be bitten and infected. “The main issues with Lyme Disease are the time of year (most tick bites occur from April to October), if you live or frequent an area where ticks are prevalent (wooded or areas with tall grass populated by deer or other wild animals), and if you remove a tick, to watch out for symptoms,” Dr. Munoz explains, “although more than half of patients with Lyme Disease did not see the tick.”
Parents have to keep an eye out for a number of symptoms with Lyme Disease — some subtle, others obvious. Dr. Munoz points out that the earliest sign of the disease can be a rash, but it doesn’t always show up. “There can be the classic bulls eye, sometimes a double bulls eye, and sometimes just a pink oval rash,” he says. It’s common for the rash to grow in size, particularly the bulls eye rash. “Any expanding rash or reddishness needs to be considered suspicious for Lyme; it’s not infrequent for the rash to be mistaken for other common conditions such as ringworm or poison ivy,” he explains. Multiple rashes can occur when the disease becomes systemic, Dr. Munoz says. The onset of a rash doesn’t always come with other symptoms.
Additional symptoms to watch out for include feeling feverish and “generally not feeling well,” similar to flu-like symptoms without the chest congestion, Dr. Munoz says. As Lyme Disease progresses it can exhibit neurological signs, such as Bells’ Palsy, which is a drooping or weakening of one side of the face. Progressing further it can mimic symptoms of viral meningitis, including fever, headache, stiff neck and nausea. It can also affect vision and specific joints of the body, such as the knee. “It could be confused with a minor injury from the gym or other physical activities, but if the knee swelling is persistent it needs to be investigated,” Dr. Munoz says.
The flu-like symptoms are those most easily missed, Dr. Munoz explains. If these persist for more than five days, the doctor should be called. Gone untreated, Lyme Disease can actually evolve into meningitis. “Not treating Lyme Disease can lead you down one of four paths,” Dr. Munoz says: “It can resolve on its own; it can produce Bell’s Palsy; it can reach the meningitis stage; or show up later as Lyme arthritis.”
Blood tests for Lyme Disease are more accurate now than ever, he says, although they may not be positive during the first few weeks, that’s why clinical suspicion is important. The most common treatment for Lyme Disease is amoxicillin; for children age eight and over, doxycycline or amoxicillin can be used; and for more advanced stages of Lyme Disease, intravenous medicine is required.
These are all very sound treatments,” Dr, Munoz says. The key to beating Lyme Disease is early detection and, best of all, preventing it from occurring in the first place. The approach to prevention includes: avoiding tick-infested areas, wearing protective clothing, tick repellents (up to 10% DEET), and checking yourself for ticks.
In addition to CWPW, Dr. Munoz is Chief of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Maria Ferrari’s Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center and a professor of pediatrics at New York Medical College.
source: westchester
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