Bites from these tiny insects can sometimes transmit Lyme disease or other infections. If you or your children spend time outside, it’s important to regularly check for ticks on skin, clothing, and any belongings that you’ve carried with you.
It’s also important to familiarize yourself with Lyme disease so you can recognize the symptoms when you see them. This is particularly important because treating Lyme at the first onset of symptoms will help to lessen the duration of the disease and possibly reduce future complications.*
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread through the bite of an infected tick. In the U.S., the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia mayonii are the cause of Lyme and are transmitted through black-legged ticks, commonly called deer ticks.
A deer tick must bite you and stay attached to your skin to transmit the bacteria, which will eventually end up in your bloodstream. Only a small portion of these ticks carry Lyme disease, and infection is unlikely if the tick is attached for less than 36 hours.
Depending on where you live, your region may have many different types of ticks. If you are bitten by a tick, here’s some information to help identify which type of tick may have bitten you. A black-legged (deer) tick is small and brown, and when it is young it can be as small as a poppy seed.
Rash
Joint pain
Neurological problems
When diagnosing Lyme disease, our medical professionals will carefully review your medical history and conduct a physical examination. If you’ve been bitten by a tick and are experiencing Lyme disease symptoms, it’s helpful to document all the symptoms you’ve noticed before your appointment at SCC Corsicana.
Laboratory tests can assist in confirming a Lyme diagnosis by identifying antibodies to the Lyme-causing bacteria. However, it may take several weeks for your body to produce these antibodies. Therefore, if you’re infected with Lyme disease and are tested too early, you might receive negative test results. To address this, your healthcare team may recommend starting antibiotic treatment even if diagnostic testing is inconclusive.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test
This test can determine if there are antibodies to the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. Since sometimes there are false-positive results with this test, is it not the only basis for diagnosis.
Western blot test
Used in conjunction with the ELISA test, the Western blot test looks for antibodies to several proteins of the Borrelia burgdoferi bacteria.
Many pregnant women suffer from morning sickness, which (despite its name) can occur at any time of the day. Typically occurring during the first trimester of pregnancy, morning sickness is also not a true “sickness” but rather the result of fluctuating hormones in a woman's body. Symptoms include:
Because Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria, it is treated with antibiotics.
