...Lyme Disease Paula Mastroianni Lehigh Carbon Community College Lyme Disease Pathophysiology Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. This bacterium can infect a human host’s skin is bitten primarily by an infected deer tick. The infection is transmitted through the host’s bloodstream from the bacterium infected saliva and feces of the deer tick attached to the host’s skin (Hockenberry, Wilson, & Rodgers, 2017). The usual symptoms expressed include “fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2017, para. 1). Etiology People with untreated Lyme disease can develop a range of complications depending upon the stage of their infection that...
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...One: Lyme Disease: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention Abstract Lyme disease (LD), caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States. Transmission occurs primarily through the bite of an infected deer tick (Ixodes scapularis). Patients with LD may have an array of symptoms affecting various body systems, depending on the stage of the disease and length of time since infection. There is a two-step testing method used to diagnose LD recommended by the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). According to guidelines from IDSA, antibiotics are recommended for all cases of LD, but length of treatment and route of administration differ, depending on stage of illness. Introduction Over the past several decades, Lyme disease (LD) has become a serious public health concern in some areas of the United States and Europe. LD, first recognized in the 1970s when it was identified as the cause of a cluster of pediatric arthritis cases in Lyme, Connecticut, has quickly emerged as a growing epidemic (Nicholas et al. 2013). The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that approximately 30,000 people per year are diagnosed with LD in the US (Moore 2015). LD is the result of an infection with the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted by a bite from the tick species Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus (Nicholas et al. 2013). Transmission Lyme disease...
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...the experiences of other Lyme patients, the struggles they faced against doctors and scientists of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just to prove that they had Lyme disease. While Weintraub and her husband were caring for the children, including their Lyme infected son Jason, they soon showed symptoms of being ill themselves. However, whenever they tried to get tested for Lyme disease, the results came back inconclusive enough for the doctor to disregard it. They were patients who failed to mount the complete response, receiving a ‘negative,’ or sometimes a ‘equivocal,’ and routinely sent packing without any treatment...
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...Culture and Disease HCS/245 March 22, 2012 Michael Coker Culture and Disease Winter has ended and spring is here, and it has everyone running to enjoy the warm air and to embrace the outdoors of the hot summer sun rays. However, there is something lurking within the bushes and in the back yard which, they cannot wait for their next victims to attack. There is a small insect that crawls and is ready to take over Mother Nature because of the warm environment. This type of ticks can create a disease called Lyme disease. Within this paper, information will be pertaining to the culture and disease within a particular populated area of the knowledge of describing the disease, factors that make this particular population vulnerable, environmental factors, modes for disease transmission, methods are used to control the spread of alternative methods, role of social influences and benefits and values of treatment, and identify community health promotion and wellness strategies to help prevent the disease. According to Webster’s New World Medical Dictionary (2003) Lyme disease is an inflammatory disease caused by the bacterium Bornelia Burgdorferi that is transmitted to human by the deer tick. An infected tick can transmit the spirochete to humans and animal it bites. The first sign of Lyme disease is a red, circular, expanding rash usually radiating from the tick bite. After the Burgdorferi has entered the bloodstream, it can infect and inflame many types of tissues...
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...Vinson Lyme Disease: Historic time line: 1909- Swedish physician Arvid Afxelus observes a bull's eye rash around a patient's tick bite. 1930-1940- Swedish dermatologist Sven Hellerstrom links erythema migrans to meningitis in multiple patients. 1970- First U.S. Case of erythema migrans reported in Milwaukee, Wis. 1975- Reseachers link juvenile arthritis cases in Lyme, Conn. To tick bites. 1977- Yale rheumatologist Allen Steere provides the first definitive account of the disease 1980- The CDC begins to monitor the spread of Lyme Disease 1982- Zoologist and microbiologist Willy Burgdorfer of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Rock Mountain Lab, Mont., isolates the bacterium that causes Lyme Disease, Borrelia burgdorferi. The CDC reports 492 cases of Lyme Disease. 1984- Westchester County, NY declares a Lyme epidemic 1988- CDC reports 4,572 Lyme cases 1991- CDC requires state and local health departments nation wide to collect and verify data on Lyme infections 1994- CDC adopts two-step test standard to diagnose Lyme Disease. 1998- CDC records 16,802 cases of Lyme. Drugmaker SmithKline Beecham begins marketing Lymerix vaccine. 2002- The maker of Lymerix withdrawals the vaccine from the market after controversy over alleged side effects undercuts demand. 2006- Infectious Diseases Society of America publishes Lyme guidelines that find no convincing scientific evidence for the existence of chronic Lyme Disease. Connecticut...
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...symptoms of disease. Yet when these same spirochetes are transmitted to humans, they cause problems in many organ systems.Lyme disease is a tick-borne inflammatory disorder caused by a spirochete, B. burgdorferi. Its clinical hallmark is an early expanding skin lesion, erythema migrans (1), which may be followed weeks to months later by neurologic, cardiac, or joint abnormalities. The B. burgdorferi spirochete causes most Lyme disease in the United States. All stages of Lyme disease may respond to antibiotics, but treatment of early disease is the most successful. “Lyme arthritis” was recognized in November 1975 as the result of an unusual geographic cluster of children with inflammatory arthropathy in the region of Lyme, Connecticut (1). Its early elucidation—natural history (1), immunopathogenesis (2), epidemiology (2, 3), pathology(2), and therapy (3) was carried out primarily at Yale University by Steere, Malawista, and their colleagues. It soon became clear that this was a multisystem disorder (Lyme disease) (2,3) occurring at any age,in both sexes, and often preceded by a characteristic expanding skin lesion, erythema chronicum migrans (2). In 1982, B.b (2) isolated the spirochete that bears his name from Ixodes scapularis ticks collected on Shelter Island, New York, and linked it serologically to patients with Lyme disease. During almost three decades of study, much has been learned about the etiology, pathogenesis, clinical spectrum, and treatment of Lyme disease, but many...
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...Introduction Lyme disease is a bacterial disease that is caused by the bite of a tick, these ticks carry the spiral shaped bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi. A human will contract this disease if they are bitten by an eight-legged tick that is in the middle stage of its life, called nymphs. If the tick is attached to the body for 36 hours than it can transfer the Borrelia burgdorferi to the person which it is attached to. Which is why it is important to check for ticks if you have been in an wooded area. Lyme disease has varying symptoms and “It can affect any organ of the body, including the brain and nervous system, muscles and joints, and the heart” (Lyme Disease.org). Lyme disease has three different stages of the disease that each have their own symptoms involved with the stage. It can be hard to diagnosis this disease based off the fact that is has many symptoms like other many diseases or other health problems so patients are frequently misdiagnosed. Lyme disease may not get diagnosed on time before it becomes chronic Lyme disease which is much harder and can take much longer to treat. Without diagnosis and proper treatment, the bacteria will continue to move throughout the body and will start to affect many other organs causing way worse effects than if they...
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...always heard about lyme disease and the effects of it but I never thought that I would become a victim of it. Living in central Pennsylvania, I didn’t think that I could get lyme disease because at the time Pennsylvania wasn’t at a high risk for it but the risk grew in a short period of time it seems. About 6 months after hearing that Pennsylvania had increased risks for lyme disease, I was diagnosed with lyme disease but being diagnosed wasn’t easy at all. It took a year of doctor’s appointments and feeling completely terrible in every crevice of my body to finally get the final diagnosis from my doctors. The only way to obtain lyme disease is being bit by a deer tick, a person cannot get lyme disease through sexual contact, saliva, blood contact, or anything else. Once being bit by a tick the person may see the red dot where they were bit plus a red circle around that which makes the spot look like a target. If the target appears, that means that the person has lyme disease but only about half of lyme disease patients have actually had the target. Most symptoms of lyme disease are like other diseases which makes lyme hard to diagnose because most doctors do not think of checking for it right away, they think of the other diseases first. The early symptoms include fatigue, muscle and joint stiffness, headache, and swollen lymph nodes which mostly resemble a viral infection. Without treatment in the early stages of lyme, the symptoms will grow worse as the lyme progresses into...
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...Personal Impact Paper The personal impact that chronic disease has on patients, is extremely devastating. "Mention of chronic Lyme disease raises temperatures, not only among patients, but also among the experts who are trying to untangle exactly what chronic Lyme disease is" (Rowe, 2000 pg1). With a chronic disease, such as Lyme disease LD patients are faced with many challenges. Some that will be outlined in this paper. Which are social, financial and personal effects that this disease can have on a person. As well as what a patient has to go through when learning about their disease and living through the experience. Lastly, this paper will touch on the motivators that can be used when maintaining a positive outlook on the patient's life. When discussing what is Lyme disease many thoughts come to head because Lyme's disease is a complex yet very silent disease. This disease is known as "The great Imitator" (Lymedisease.org 2013) this is because the symptoms that arise are like other well known diseases. Some examples of these diseases are; Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, Depression and Rheumatoid Arthritis (Lymedisease.org 2013). By the time that Lyme's disease is diagnosis the symptoms and the disease process have become chronic. When someone gets infected this disease with the Lyme spirochetes, which is a poppy like size tick (Lymedisease.org 2013). The most common forms of testing are the Elisa and the Western Blot. These test are...
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...demographics changes, there will constantly be new illnesses and diseases to track, and ultimately control. Nonetheless, has someone ever considered that one of the most severe illnesses can be easily caught when someone is simply doing an average outdoor activity? Lyme disease is on the rise in Canada, and lack of awareness, treatment and control is prominent. Measures to reduce, and prevent the spreading of the disease is acknowledged and the Canadian government is working together with physicians and patients to determine the most productive methods. Lyme Disease is a vector-borne inflammatory infection caused...
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...Personal Impact Paper: Lyme Disease Eric Bickhart University of Phoenix student NUR/427 August 4, 2014 Amy Highland Personal Impact Paper: Lyme Disease “Since its identification nearly 30 years ago, Lyme disease has continued to spread, and there have been increasing numbers of cases in the northeastern and north central US. The Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, causes infection by migration through tissues, adhesion to host cells and evasion of immune clearance” (Steere, 2004). This disease is transmitted to humans from the bite of the Blacklegged (deer) tick. It usually produces a bulls-eye rash, but not in all cases. According to National Library of Medicine (2013), "Stage 3 or late disseminated Lyme disease can cause long-term joint inflammation (Lyme arthritis and heart problems. Brain and nervous system problems are also possible" (Outlook (Prognosis)). Lyme disease has afflicted a high school basketball coach and gym teacher of a small school in Liberty, Pa at age 36. He is the father of two children and a member of a local sportsman's club. He has been dealing with the ongoing symptoms related to chronic Lyme disease for about seven years. It has been a life altering disease for a previously active young man. He reports symptoms as severe pain and swelling in all of his joints that inhibit full rotation similar to rheumatoid arthritis. Also, he has persistent severe back pain which keeps him on the sidelines during most of his career and...
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...Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria known as borrelia burgdorferi and is one of the most common vector-born diseases. It is commonly transmitted through bites from infected black legged ticks. Some of the more common symptoms are fever, headache, fatigue and a rash that almost everyone who gets Lyme disease has called erythema migrans. Lyme disease is diagnosed through looking at the symptoms as well as possible exposure to infected ticks and if it goes untreated it can often spread to the heart and the nervous system as well as through your joints. It contains three stages, the first being a rash at the site of the bite, the second being cardiac and neurologic involvement, and the third being arthritis in large and important joints such as...
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...Lyme disease is a bacterial disease. It was first seen in 1975 when there was an unknown outbreak of arthritis near Old Lyme, Connecticut, giving it the name Lyme disease. Since 1975 the number of cases have greatly increased. It impacts approximately 25,000 US residents every year. It is usually found in the northeastern United States, northern California, and north central states, like Minnesota and Wisconsin. There are however, cases in every state and various countries around the world. It is interesting that this disease mostly impacts the United States. Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted through the bite of an infected deer tick. They cannot fly or jump and thus often attach in the grass or weeds. When the tick finds a feeding spot, it grasps the skin and cuts into the surface. The tick then inserts its feeding tube. The feeding tube can have barbs, which help keep the tick in place. The tick must usually be attached for 36 to 48 hours or more before the Lyme disease bacterium can be transmitted. There is no evidence showing Lymes disease can transmit through...
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...Lyme’s Disease Lyme disease is a bacterial disease caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. The organism is a rod-like spirochete. Spirochetes are a group of bacteria unique in the way they move about the organism. This group of bacteria moves in a spiral motion. There are three stages in the clinical signs for Lyme’s Disease. Primary signs will begin after the first or second day of feeding on the animal and tend to develop in 90% of cases. Erythema will develop which is often accompanied by a mild to moderate fever. Generalized lymphadenopathy develops as well which in some cases may lead to the animal displaying signs of lameness. Secondary signs will develop in about 10% of cases. These signs include glomerulonephritis which results in a protein losing nephropathy and is usually fatal. The extremely rare third stage of Lyme disease include attacks...
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...James Gwinn BIOL 840 Infectious Disease - Fall 16 Case Study Scenario: Earlier this week, a middle-aged man came into an urgent care facility referencing a high fever and severe chills for a couple days. He has also been experiencing muscle aches, headache, and an overall tiredness. He has not been feeling well for the past two weeks. Since the patient revealed that he did not receive a seasonal flu-shot, he was prescribed Theraflu and sent home. After a couple more days, the patient returned to the office with no improvement with additional nausea and vomiting. The doctor prescribed a simple blood test and noticed that the man was suffering from hemolytic anemia. The man is from New Hampshire and spends most of his time outdoors. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and trail-hiking. He has...
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