The 25 years old Canadian pop singer, Justin Bieber has shared that he has been battling the Lyme disease. He shared that he was later diagnosed with a serious chronic condition, a bacterial infection spread by the ticks. He plans to provide more details in the documentary series on YouTube.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lyme disease is one of the most common vector-borne diseases in the United States. Around 13% of Americans are believed to be infected. It can spread from human to human. This disease is spread by the hosts like lice or mosquitoes. In the cases of Lyme disease, the black-legged ticks bite the skin and pass the bacteria, Borrelia burgfori and in some rare cases another bacteria namely, Borrelia mayonii.
The ticks are found in the mid- Atlantic, northeastern, Pacific Coast regions and the north-central United States. Arachnids can bite anybody part mostly latch on the scalp, armpits, and groin.
Read More- Chinese Report New Coronavirus as a Potential Cause of Pneumonia-like Illness
The symptoms will appear after three days. In the first 30 days after the bite of these arachnids, the person may suffer from a fever, chills, fatigue, headache, and aching joints and muscles also have swollen lymph nodes.
Almost 70 to 80 % of patients with Lyme disease will suffer from the condition, erythema migrans rash after around seven days. The areas where tick bites will get a warm feeling; sometimes painful rash will appear on that area of skin and may grow up to 12 inches of diameter. In a few people, it will develop into a bullseye shape.
The symptoms after the days or months of the bite may include stiff neck, headache, facial palsy (drooping of the face), muscle pain, joints pain and pain in bones that comes and goes. The sufferer may also feel dizziness, shooting sensations, nerve pain, and numbness and tingling in the feet and hands.
The erythema migrans can also appear in other body parts during the later stage of the disease. If this left untreated, it can cause serious problems which include arthritis and facial paralysis. Lyme disease is diagnosed with the blood test but the process is complicated. The NHS test that is highly accurate, checks the antibodies produced by the body which reaches to a detectable level in a few weeks.
According to the CDC, those who are taking the correct antibiotics after the first time catching the Lyme disease normally recover completely and rapidly. The complete three-week course of antibiotics will make a complete recovery. Roughly 300,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with this disease every year. The CDC emphasized to seek the in time medical attention after observing any of such symptoms or had a tick bite, living in the area known for such disease or recently traveled to the area where the disease occurs.
Using insect repellent, covering your full body during outdoor hours, staying on paths, proper clothing of light-colored so ticks can be easily visible and brush off are the ways to reduce the risk rate.