Ten Fact About Lyme Disease
1. Lyme is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in the U.S., and it’s found in more than 65 countries worldwide.
2. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
(CDC), only 10% of Lyme disease cases meeting the CDC
criteria are reported each year. That means about 230,000
new cases of Lyme meeting that criteria occur each year in
the US.
3. Patients with Lyme disease often have co-infections with Babesia, Anaplasma, Bartonella, or other organisms, clouding the diagnostic and treatment picture.
4. Lyme disease, the great imitator, can be misdiagnosed as MS, ALS, lupus, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, autism, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.
5. A bite from a tick that’s infected with Lyme disease bacteria can lead to neurologic, cardiac, arthritic and psychiatric manifestations in humans.
6. Children 5-14 are at the highest risk of acquiring Lyme disease; some studies show significant IQ drops in students with Lyme, reversed after treatment.
7. Lab tests for Lyme disease are not reliable; you can test negative and still have the disease.
8. Lyme disease can cross the placenta and cause birth defects or even death of the fetus.
9. A 2006 published CDC animal study shows that transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi (the bacterium that causes Lyme) through blood transfusion in mice is possible.
10. A rash does not always occur with Lyme disease, and
symptoms may occur days or months after a tick bite.
From Lyme Disease Association, Inc.
www.LymeDiseaseAssociation.org
