St. Joseph's Healthcare System

Presenting Otto F. Sabando, DO, FACOEP, Program Director, Emergency Medicine Residency, St. Joseph's Healthcare System, to discuss transmission risks, symptoms, management and treatment of Lyme Disease, as well as tips for prevention.

From spring through fall the deer tick becomes active making lyme disease prevalent during the summer months. If the tick has been attached to you for less than 72 hours the likelihood of transmission is 0, if it has been longer than transmission is expected to be 25%. You should shower within 2 hours of being outdoors, if you see a tick on your body you should take a pair of tweezers and go as close to the head as possible and pull gently upward. Avoid using gasoline, kerosene, petroleum jelly and fingernail polish since this will cause the tick to regurgitate putting Borrelia into your system. Lyme disease progresses over 3 stages, the first includes a rash appearing as a bullseye, stage 2 is the dissemination of Borrelia where the bacteria affects the body between a few days to 6 months. Stage 2 involves symptoms such as fever, swollen glands, joint pain and nerve paralysis as well as seeing multiple round rashes throughout the body. Stage 3 is associated with years after the infection causing chronic arthritis, chronic neurological problems and myocarditis. If you notice you have been bitten by a tick and it is beyond 72 hours you should see your doctor who can take a simple blood test verifying you have been infected. Your doctor can then prescribe you antibiotics. To prevent bits avoid wooded and busy areas with high grass and leaf litter, walk in the center of trails, apply insect repellent, and reduce tick habitat in yard keeping a 3 foot barrier of wood chips between lawns and wooded areas.