What is lyme disease?!
Question:
What is lyme disease?
What does it do to your body?
What are the symptoms that you have it?
How long after being bitten by a tick does it take to get it?
Answers:
Lyme disease (Borreliosis) is a bacterial infection with a spirochete from the species complex Borrelia burgdorferi, which is most often acquired from the bite of an infected Ixodes, or black-legged, tick, also known as a deer tick.
The disease varies widely in its presentation, which may include a rash and flu-like symptoms in its initial stage, followed by the possibility of musculoskeletal, arthritic, neurologic, psychiatric and cardiac manifestations. In most cases of Lyme disease, symptoms can be eliminated with antibiotics, especially if treatment is begun early in the course of illness.
A percentage of patients with Lyme disease have symptoms that last months to years after treatment with antibiotics. These symptoms can include muscle and joint pains, arthritis, stiff neck, cognitive defects, neurological complaints or fatigue. The cause of these continuing symptoms is not yet known. There is some evidence that they may result from an autoimmune type of response, in which a person’s immune system continues to respond even after the infection has been cleared, as well as evidence of ongoing infection with the spirochete.
It is believed that the longer the duration of tick attachment, the greater the risk of disease transmission; typically, for the spirochete to be transferred, the tick must be attached for a minimum of 48 hours, although only the first part of this statement can be said to be strictly correct