Is Lyme Disease Contagious? Examining the Myths and Truths About This Mysterious Condition
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can only be caught from a deer tick's bite.
Deer ticks develop the bacteria Borrelia from mammals that bear the disease.
Ticks can then transmit it to other animals, such as humans, with its bite.
A deer tick is almost the size of a sesame seed; the males are totally black with the somewhat larger females being red at the end of their torsos.
If you find a deer tick on the body, you will have to detach it quickly as it takes a complete twenty four hours for the Borrelia bacteria to transmit to the host.
Use a tweezers to take off the tick and be careful to also grab the head, if you simply detach the body but the head remains it will proceed to suck blood and possibly give you Lyme disease.
When removing, never crush or twist the tick, your objective is to remove it in one piece so as little between your and tick occurs transmission between your and tick.
Keep the tick in a plastic bag and see a doctor for testing right away.
A lot of people ask, "Is Lyme disease contagious?" Quite simply, the disease is not spread among people, you can only get it from ticks.
Some people think it is a contagious disease because the symptoms closely resemble another especially familiar condition, influenza.
The truth is, only 14,000 cases of Lyme disease get recorded each year although specialists calculate that only about ten percent of cases are even reported.
The preliminary symptoms of Lyme disease include the flu like symptoms of muscle pains, headaches, chills and a fever.
These symptoms make people ask "Is Lyme disease contagious?" The one early stage symptom that differentiates this disease from the flu is a rash that accompanies the tick bite.
The site of the bite is frequently a tiny red spot with a clear center and shows up on about 80% of patients who have been bitten by an infected tick; the rash looks like a bull's eye.
If not caught in time, Lyme disease can transform into more dangerous symptoms like: paralysis of the face muscles, numbness and joint pain.
Other symptoms are brain problems such as difficulty concentrating, headaches, memory loss and sleep problems.
Joint and neck pain and inflammation are also prevalent.
It can take weeks to months before these symptoms are felt.
The only real way you should be combating Lyme disease is with prevention before heading outdoors and taking the time to examine your body once you get home.
Tucking your pants into your socks is the biggest way to keep ticks off of your body.
Long sleeved shirts and hats can give protection, along with bug repellent.
The hot temperatures of the washer and dryer kill off ticks, so remove and wash your clothes immediately.
Never let these clothes lie around where ticks can continue to live and possibly transfer to another person.
Preventive measures are the greatest way to defeat Lyme disease.
If you do discover a tick on your body, it is vital to work fast to reduce your chance of catching this disease.
Although it is not necessary to ask "Is Lyme disease contagious?" it is imperative to be concerned of the symptoms because they are similar to the flu and are hard to relate because they can appear many months after a tick bite.
Deer ticks develop the bacteria Borrelia from mammals that bear the disease.
Ticks can then transmit it to other animals, such as humans, with its bite.
A deer tick is almost the size of a sesame seed; the males are totally black with the somewhat larger females being red at the end of their torsos.
If you find a deer tick on the body, you will have to detach it quickly as it takes a complete twenty four hours for the Borrelia bacteria to transmit to the host.
Use a tweezers to take off the tick and be careful to also grab the head, if you simply detach the body but the head remains it will proceed to suck blood and possibly give you Lyme disease.
When removing, never crush or twist the tick, your objective is to remove it in one piece so as little between your and tick occurs transmission between your and tick.
Keep the tick in a plastic bag and see a doctor for testing right away.
A lot of people ask, "Is Lyme disease contagious?" Quite simply, the disease is not spread among people, you can only get it from ticks.
Some people think it is a contagious disease because the symptoms closely resemble another especially familiar condition, influenza.
The truth is, only 14,000 cases of Lyme disease get recorded each year although specialists calculate that only about ten percent of cases are even reported.
The preliminary symptoms of Lyme disease include the flu like symptoms of muscle pains, headaches, chills and a fever.
These symptoms make people ask "Is Lyme disease contagious?" The one early stage symptom that differentiates this disease from the flu is a rash that accompanies the tick bite.
The site of the bite is frequently a tiny red spot with a clear center and shows up on about 80% of patients who have been bitten by an infected tick; the rash looks like a bull's eye.
If not caught in time, Lyme disease can transform into more dangerous symptoms like: paralysis of the face muscles, numbness and joint pain.
Other symptoms are brain problems such as difficulty concentrating, headaches, memory loss and sleep problems.
Joint and neck pain and inflammation are also prevalent.
It can take weeks to months before these symptoms are felt.
The only real way you should be combating Lyme disease is with prevention before heading outdoors and taking the time to examine your body once you get home.
Tucking your pants into your socks is the biggest way to keep ticks off of your body.
Long sleeved shirts and hats can give protection, along with bug repellent.
The hot temperatures of the washer and dryer kill off ticks, so remove and wash your clothes immediately.
Never let these clothes lie around where ticks can continue to live and possibly transfer to another person.
Preventive measures are the greatest way to defeat Lyme disease.
If you do discover a tick on your body, it is vital to work fast to reduce your chance of catching this disease.
Although it is not necessary to ask "Is Lyme disease contagious?" it is imperative to be concerned of the symptoms because they are similar to the flu and are hard to relate because they can appear many months after a tick bite.
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