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Lyme Disease FAQ’s
Q. How do people get Lyme disease?
A. By the bite of a tick infected with Lyme disease bacteria.
(Click here for an image of a
deer tick.)
Q. What is the basic transmission cycle?
A. Immature ticks become infected by feeding on small rodents,
such as the white-footed mouse, and other mammals that are infected
with the bacterium
Borrelia burgdorferi. In later stages, these ticks then
transmit the Lyme disease bacterium to humans and other mammals
during the feeding process. Lyme disease bacteria are maintained in
the blood systems and tissues of small rodents.
Q. Could you get Lyme disease from another person?
A. No, Lyme disease bacteria are NOT transmitted from
person-to-person. For example, you cannot get infected from touching
or kissing a person who has Lyme disease, or from a health care
worker who has treated someone with the disease, or by sexual
contact.
Q. What are the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease?
A. Within days to weeks following a tick bite, 80% of patients
will have a red, slowly expanding
"bull's-eye" rash (called erythema migrans), accompanied by
general tiredness, fever, headache, stiff neck, muscle aches, and
joint pain. If untreated, weeks to months later some patients may
develop arthritis, including intermittent episodes of swelling and
pain in the large joints; neurologic abnormalities, such as aseptic
meningitis, facial palsy, motor and sensory nerve inflammation (radiculoneuritis)
and inflammation of the brain (encephalitis); and, rarely, cardiac
problems, such as atrioventricular block, acute inflammation of the
tissues surrounding the heart (myopericarditis) or enlarged heart (cardiomegaly).
Q. What is the incubation period for Lyme disease?
A. For the red "bull's-eye" rash (erythema migrans), usually 7
to 14 days following tick exposure. Some patients present with later
manifestations without having had early signs of disease.
Q. Can a person be reinfected with Lyme disease?
A. Yes. Having had Lyme disease doesn't protect against
reinfection. Some persons have had Lyme disease more than once after
re-exposure to infective tick bites. This stresses the need for
continued tick bite prevention activities such as wearing
appropriate clothing when in tick-infested areas, daily tick checks,
and quick removal of attached ticks.
Q. How many cases of Lyme disease occur in the U.S.?
A. Lyme disease is the leading cause of vector-borne infectious
illness in the U.S. with about 23,000 cases reported in 2002, though
the disease is greatly under reported. Twelve states account for
over 90% of reported cases.
 Q. How is Lyme disease treated?
A. According to treatment experts, antibiotic treatment for 3-4
weeks with doxycycline or amoxicillin is generally effective in
early disease. Cefuroxime axetil or erythromycin can be used for
persons allergic to penicillin or who cannot take tetracyclines.
Later disease, particularly with objective neurologic
manifestations, may require treatment with intravenous ceftriaxone
or penicillin for 4 weeks or more, depending on disease severity. In
later disease, treatment failures may occur and retreatment may be
necessary. (The Medical Letter, Vol. 42 (Issue 1077), May 1, 2000)
Q. Is the disease seasonal in its occurrence?
A. Yes, Lyme disease is most common during the late spring and
summer months in the U.S. (May through August) when nymphal ticks
are most active and human populations are frequently outdoors and
most exposed.
Q.Who is at risk for getting Lyme disease?
A. Persons in endemic areas who frequent sites where infected
ticks are common, such as grassy or wooded locations favored by
white-tailed deer in the northeastern and upper midwest states, and
along the northern Pacific coast of California.
Q. Is there a vaccine avialable against Lyme disease?
A. No. As of February 25, 2002 the manufacturer of the LYMErix™
Lyme disease vaccine announced that it would no longer be
commercially available.
Additional Lyme
Disease Information
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