Spring and summer are favorite seasons for visiting park and forest zones. One of the dangers of this kind of rest is borreliosis or Lyme disease. This infectious disease, which acquires a chronic character, is transmitted by a special kind of ixodid ticks. Insects, in turn, become infected from field mice, hedgehogs, birds, steppe hamsters and various ungulates.
The causative agent of Lyme disease or tick-borne borreliosis
This pathology is provoked by a bacterium from the spirochete family called Borrelia.
The peculiarity of this microorganism is that other diseases carried by ticks, for example, encephalitis, are transmitted through the saliva of an insect. Borrelia begin to multiply in its intestines and stand out with feces. Therefore, borreliosis or Lyme disease can be infected not only through the tick bite, but also when it is squashed on the skin.
Due to the fact that the bacteria need some time for development, the incubation period of the disease, as a rule, is about 10-14 days. Less often it is very short (several days) or long (from 2 months to 2-4 years). Sometimes there is an asymptomatic form of pathology.
Symptoms of borreliosis or Lyme disease
There are 2 stages of disease progression:
- early, flowing in 2 stages;
- late (3rd stage).
Lyme disease is rarely diagnosed at the first stage of development, since its signs are not specific:
- chills;
- headache;
- increased body temperature;
- weakness and fatigue;
- aches in the joints and muscles, especially the neck;
- rarely - vomiting, nausea, dry cough, sore throat, runny nose.
Quite often, patients have annular erythema - reddening around the site of the bite, which is constantly expanding. In the future, the victims are noted additional symptoms:
- hives;
- conjunctivitis;
- a rash on the face;
- photophobia;
- hyperesthesia;
- meningism;
- arthralgia and myalgia;
- signs of hepatitis (jaundice).
In the 2 stages, the following manifestations occur:
- stiff neck;
- throbbing pain in the head;
- moderate encephalopathy;
- stiff neck;
- emotional lability;
- defeat of the facial nerve;
- neuritis;
- benign lymphocytoma;
- rarely - the development of myocarditis and pericarditis.
After an acute and subacute period of the first two stages (after 0.5-2 years), borreliosis passes to the third stage of progression. It is characterized by:
- skin lesions;
- neurological pathologies;
- benign recurrent arthritis;
- arthralgia .
Consequences of Lyme disease
If the disease flows into a chronic form, the following complications are observed:
- chronic arthritis, accompanied by the destruction of cartilaginous tissue and joints;
- destruction of bones;
- degenerative changes in muscles;
- osteoporosis;
- atrophic acrodermatitis.
Often the consequences of Lyme disease are severe damage to the cardiovascular system, the brain.
Treatment of borreliosis or Lyme disease
The basis of therapy described disease are considered antibiotics.
In the early stages, in the absence of complicated symptoms, tetracycline drugs are prescribed. In the presence of neurological and cardiovascular disorders, ceftriaxones and penicillins should additionally be taken. Later stages and the chronic form of borreliosis involves treatment with antibacterial agents with prolonged action (Retarpen).
A detailed scheme of therapy should be made by an infectious disease specialist after the results of a blood test and puncture of cerebrospinal fluid.
Prevention of Lyme Disease
To warn a bite with a tick it is possible, observing simple rules:
- Wear closed clothing, visiting parks and forests.
- Use special means to repel insects.
- After finding the tick, immediately remove it with a pair of tweezers (with twisting movements, holding it by the head).
- Do not press the insect with your fingers, after handling the skin, wash your hands with antibacterial soap or solution, contact an infectious disease specialist.