Pediatric Lyme Disease

In the spring of 2017 a young lady found a tick fully embedded in her skin. She removed the tick and watched for the bull's-eye rash which is often associated with infection of the bacteria. But the rash never appeared. So the 51 year-old mother of two continued about her daily life.
It wasn't until a year later, after a year's worth of increasingly debilitating symptoms, including fatigue, the inability to concentrate, uncontrollable anxiety, and nervous and muscular difficulties that at one point was mis-diagnosed as amyotrophie lateral sclerosis (ALS), that she was diagnosed with Lyme disease.
According to the state Health Department, early symptoms emerge between three and 30 days after the bite of an infected tick, but the circular bull's-eye rash occurs only in 60 to 80 percent of the cases. Other early symptoms of the disease include chills and fever, headache, fatigue, stiff neck, muscle and/or joint pain, and swollen glands.
If Lyme disease is left untreated in its early stages, more severe symptoms including severe fatigue, a stiff aching neck, and tingling or numbness in the arms and kegs, or facial paralysis can occur. The most severe symptoms of Lyme disease may not appear until weeks, months or years after the tick bite and can include severe headaches, painful arthritis, swelling of the joints, and heart and central nervous system problems.
GET THE FACTS AND SPREAD THE WORD: (1) you do not need to see a tick or have a rash to have Lyme disease, (2) a negative test does not mean that you do not have Lyme disease, (3) you may have co-infections with Lyme, (4) treatment does not mean cure, (5) your genes may be affecting your ability to heal, (6) you can die from complications of Lyme and co-infections, (7) Lyme can be transmitted to unborn children, (8) it may be transmitted sexually, (9) Lyme can lie dormant for weeks, months, or even years, (10) Lyme can hide from detection and treatment.
So as I always say, if you think that your child got bit by a tick, go to your child's doctor or pediatrician and demand a blood test and to be put on antibiotics immediately.
The Pediatric Lyme Disease Foundation will be celebrating 20 years of helping children with Lyme disease at a Gala on March 22, 2020, at which time we will have paid out approximately $1,000,000 for the treatment and/or medication of a child suffering with chronic Lyme disease. SO SAVE THE DATE.
Thank you all for your generosity and continued support of the foundation mission. No child should have to suffer with Lyme disease.

Column Posted on Web Site July 6, 2019