Warmer winters allow ticks to survive farther north than usual, expanding the geography of the disease, and lengthier summers extend the peak period of disease. Another potential reason that cases of Lyme disease are increasing is that diagnostic tests are getting better at detecting the disease. Yet there is still much work to be done in this arena.
Too many Lyme patients are still misdiagnosed, leading to serious financial and health consequences. And there is still too little understanding of the causes, consequences, and best treatment of chronic Lyme disease.
The scientific and medical communities should continue research into diagnosing and treating Lyme. IGeneX is committed to contributing to this research by developing more sensitive and accurate Lyme disease tests. For the most up to date and accurate information and articles about ticks and tick-borne diseases, please visit Tick Talk Resource.
Why IGeneX? Shopping Cart. A brief history of Lyme disease Lyme and ancient history In , a team at the Yale School of Public Health studied the history of Lyme disease in North America by analyzing the DNA of the Lyme disease bacterium — a group of species of spiral-shaped bacteria, or spirochetes, known as Borrelia.
Other species of Borrelia discovered Species of Borrelia that are known to cause Lyme disease are collectively called Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Climate change increases the threat of Lyme disease Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the U. Preventing Tick Bites. Tick Removal and Testing. Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome. Health Care Providers. Educational Materials.
Why is CDC concerned about Lyme disease? Tickborne Disease Information for Clinicians. Helpful Links. If pregnant women are infected, they sometimes pass Lyme disease to their unborn children and, while not common, stillbirth has occurred. Some doctors believe other types of human-to-human transmission are possible but little is known for certain. Lyme disease has been found on every continent except Antarctica. Rates have increased significantly over time. Some of this increase may be because of disease spread, but it is also likely that it reflects growing public awareness of the disease.
Not all ticks are infected. Within endemic areas, there is considerable variation in tick infection rates depending on the type of habitat, presence of wildlife and other factors.
This uncertainty about how many ticks are infected makes it hard to predict the risk of Lyme disease in a given region. Scientists are still debating about what organism s in the Lone Star tick may cause the disease as well as the treatment of patients with a rash in the South. Because of this, patients in the South with a rash should be treated. Herman-Giddens The risk of getting Lyme disease is often reflected in risk maps.
Some maps show the number of human cases of Lyme disease reported for surveillance. Physicians suspected a virus was behind the outbreak, but—without knowing its true agent—attempts at further understanding the pathogenesis and possible treatments of Lyme disease were unsuccessful. With further laboratory testing, he and colleagues at NIAID found that the bacteria, passed to humans via tick bites, were causing the mysterious Lyme disease, which is now recognized as the most common tick-borne illness in both the EU and USA.
The spirochete that causes Lyme disease was named after Dr. Burgdorfer— Borrelia burgdorferi —and since his seminal paper on its discovery more than 6, studies on clinical, epidemiological, and bacterial aspects of this disease have been published.
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