Lyme disease



Lyme Disease is caused by borrelia burgdorferi, a pathogen transmitted by the black legged tick. It is treatable but can become chronic lyme disease. A bulls-eye rash can appear at the site of a deer tick bite but can be in different forms while some people never recall having a rash; 30% of lyme patients never get a rash.

Treatment

 * Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) on Treatment


 * Patients treated with appropriate antibiotics in the early stages of Lyme disease usually recover rapidly and completely. Antibiotics commonly used for oral treatment include doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime axetil. Patients with certain neurological or cardiac forms of illness may require intravenous treatment with drugs such as ceftriaxone or penicillin.


 * 2006, The Clinical Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Lyme Disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis, and Babesiosis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America

Multiple pathogens

 * 2016, Researchers identify new Borrelia species that causes Lyme disease

Pathobiome Paradigm
Some future research will focus on a spectrum of pathogens instead of a "one pathogen-one disease" vision.

Articles

 * Apr 23, 2014, Lyme disease — a ticking timebomb that health authorities say does not exist
 * Jul 31, 2016, How I was floored by a tick

Learn more

 * Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center
 * Lyme Disease Video Short