What is Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia, a spirochete bacteria. It’s the most common tick-borne infectious disease in the northern hemisphere

and there are multiple strains of the bacteria. Lyme disease is endemic in many parts of the United Kingdom, particularly in woodland or heath-land areas but disease carrying ticks can also be found in cities and gardens. Transmission of Lyme disease can occur when bitten by an infected tick. Other modes of transmission including congential transmission from mother to baby. Although Borrelia has been found in biting insects such as mosquitoes and spiders, there is not yet enough research to prove that the disease can be transmitted via them.

It's important to act quickly if you believe you have been bitten by a tick as it's usually easier to treat if diagnosed early. Ticks range in size and can be as small as a poppy seed which means it can be easy to miss a tick bite at the time.

In some cases, transmission can occur from mother to baby (congenital transmission)

as well as being linked to blood transfusions.

Until more is known, it would be wise for Lyme patients past and present, to avoid donating their blood or tissue and we aim to continue raising the issue with the Department of Health.

More Info

Symptoms can start with an erythema migrans (EM) rash, often described as a bulls-eye rash, but it can also be

more irregular, which sometimes leads to a misdiagnosis of ringworm or cellulitis. It’s important to note that not every Lyme disease patient will experience or remember a rash, as figures state that the rash appears in two thirds of Lyme patients.

Symptoms of Lyme disease can include malaise, unexplained flu-like symptoms, soreness and achiness, light and noise sensitivity, cogntitive problems, fatigue, a stiff neck, facial palsy, numbness and tingling, Left untreated, the infection can spread anywhere in the body leading to around 70 recognised symptoms.

Early Signs and Symptoms:

Fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes may occur in the absence of rash
Erythema migrans (EM) rash

Later Signs and Symptoms:

Severe headaches and neck stiffness
Facial palsy
Arthritis with severe joint pain and swelling
Intermittent pain in tendons, muscles, joints, and bones
Heart palpitations or an irregular heart beat (Lyme carditis)
Episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath
Nerve pain
Shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet

Testing

Patients don’t always remember a bite and the NHS two-tier testing has been widely criticised as flawed with a false-negative rate of 66.8% in early Lyme disease. At present, there is no gold-standard test for Lyme disease which can rule out the illness and there is no test for cure.

The initial test offered by the NHS is called an ELISA test which is usually performed at your local hospital laboratory and takes a few days or possibly a week to come back.

What everyone does appear to agree on is that if caught early, Lyme disease should be easier to treat, enabling the patient to return to full health. The chances are, the longer an infection is left untreated, the harder it will be to combat.

Treatment

The treatment of Lyme Disease is controversial in the medical world with some medical professionals seeing the disease as acute and easily treatable, where as, some see it as an insidious disease which is capable of persisting beyond a course of antibiotics and therefore needing a long term treatment plan.

This means that it is important to continue to seek medical help if you are still unwell after an initial round of antibiotic treatment, where further blood tests and treatment should be offered.

Ongoing symptoms of Lyme Disease can be similar to those of ME/CFS or Fibromyalgia, causing long term pain and fatigue, as well as a myriad of other symptoms.