Tick ​​bite, symptoms of borreliosis, principles of diagnosis, treatment and prevention

Hello! A couple of years ago I was a victim of a tick bite. He clung to my hand. I removed it myself, in the first days I felt good.

But then the temperature rose and began to pound chills. I decided to contact the doctors. It turned out to be the right decision!

Tick-borne borreliosis began to develop. Timely help was very helpful. But if I initially knew about the symptoms of a tick bite and borreliosis more, then unpleasant consequences could be avoided. Therefore, I will now share with you detailed information on this issue.

Tick-borne borreliosis: symptoms, treatment and consequences

Tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease, Lyme borreliosis) is an infectious disease transmitted through the bite of an ixodid tick. It is characterized by damage to various organs and systems: skin, nervous system, heart, joints. With early detection and proper treatment with antibiotics, in most cases it ends in recovery.

The name of the disease comes from the pathogen - a microorganism called Borrelia, which is transmitted by ticks. The second name, Lyme disease, appeared in 1975, when cases were reported in the small town of Lyme in the United States.

Causes

It has been established that the cause of tick-borne borreliosis is 3 types of borrelia - Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia afzelii. These are very small microorganisms (length 11-25 microns) in the form of a convoluted spiral. Under natural conditions, the natural reservoir of borrelia is animals: rodents, deer, cows, goats, horses, etc.

Ixodid ticks, which become infected by sucking the blood of infected animals, serve as a carrier. Ticks are able to transmit borrelia to their subsequent generations. Ixodid ticks live mainly in temperate zones, especially in mixed forests.

The peak incidence occurs at the end of spring - the beginning of summer, which is associated with an increase in tick activity in this period. A person has a high susceptibility to Borrelia, which means a high risk of the disease "at a meeting."

How does the disease develop?

Infection occurs with a tick bite. The pathogen with saliva penetrates the skin, multiplies there. Then it enters the nearby lymph nodes, where it continues to multiply.After a few days, the borrelia penetrate the bloodstream and spread throughout the body with a blood stream.

So they get into the central nervous system, heart, joints, muscles, where they can stay for a long time, continuing to multiply. The immune system produces antibodies against borrelia, but even their high titers are not able to completely destroy the pathogen.

This fact can cause a chronic course of the disease. The death of the pathogen is accompanied by the release of toxic substances, which worsens the patient's condition.

A sick person is not contagious to others, cannot become a source of infection.

Symptoms of the disease

The disease proceeds in several stages:

Stage I and II are called the early period of infection, and stage III - late. There is no clear transition between the stages, the separation is somewhat arbitrary.

I stage. It is characterized by general and local manifestations. Common symptoms include: headache, pain and aching in the muscles, joints, fever up to 38 ° C, chills, nausea, vomiting, general malaise. Rarely can there be catarrhal phenomena: sore throat, sore throat, slight runny nose, coughing.

Local symptoms are as follows: at the site of a tick bite, soreness, swelling, itching, and redness appear. The so-called annular erythema is formed - a specific symptom of tick-borne borreliosis. It is detected in 70% of patients.

At the site of the bite, a red dense formation appears - the papule, which gradually expands to the sides over several days, acquiring the shape of a ring.

In the center, the bite remains a slightly paler color, and the rim has a more saturated red color, rises above the unaffected skin. In general, the redness zone has an oval or round shape with a diameter of 10-60 cm. Sometimes smaller rings can form inside the ring, especially if the size of the erythema is large.

Quite often, erythema does not cause the patient unpleasant sensations, but it happens that this place itches, bakes. It happens that annular erythema becomes the first manifestation of the disease and is not accompanied by general reactions. The appearance of additional annular erythema, secondary, that is, in places where there were no bites.

Of other skin manifestations, a rash of the type of urticaria, the development of conjunctivitis is possible.

Local symptoms are accompanied by an increase and soreness of regional lymph nodes, stiff neck muscles, fever, migratory joint and muscle pain.

Stage I is characterized by the disappearance of symptoms even without medication.

II stage. One of the manifestations of borreliosis is damage to the nervous system in the form of meningitis.

Damage to the nervous system is manifested by three typical syndromes:

• serous meningitis;
• damage to the cranial nerves;
• damage to the roots of the spinal nerves (radiculopathy).

Serous meningitis (inflammation of the meninges) is manifested by a mild headache, photophobia, increased sensitivity to irritants, moderate tension of the occipital muscles, significant fatigue.

Typical symptoms of Kernig and Brudzinsky meningitis may be completely absent. Possible emotional disorders, insomnia, impaired memory and attention. In the cerebrospinal fluid (cerebrospinal fluid) increases the content of lymphocytes, protein.

With tick-borne borreliosis, damage to the facial nerve has a good prognosis for recovery. Of the other cranial nerves, the optic, auditory, oculomotor nerves are involved in the process, which is expressed in impaired vision, hearing, strabismus, and impaired eye movements, respectively.

The defeat of the roots of the spinal nerves clinically makes itself felt with severe pain of a shooting nature. In the area of ​​the trunk, the pains are girdle-like, and in the area of ​​the limbs they are directed from top to bottom in length.

After a few days or weeks, muscle damage joins the pains (weakness develops - paresis), sensitive disorders (increase or decrease in general sensitivity), tendon reflexes drop out.

Sometimes damage to the nervous system with tick-borne borreliosis can be accompanied by impaired speech, shakiness and instability, the appearance of involuntary movements, trembling in the extremities, impaired swallowing, and epipresses. Similar symptoms are observed in 10% of patients with tick-borne borreliosis.

Damage to the joints in this stage is manifested as recurrent monoarthritis (one joint) or oligoarthritis (two to three joints). Most often this applies to the knee, hip, elbow or ankle joints. They cause pain and limitation of mobility.

Heart damage is also a few clinical forms. This can be a violation of the conduction of the heart (the most characteristic are atriventricular blockades), myocarditis and pericarditis are possible, manifested by palpitations, shortness of breath, pain behind the sternum, heart failure.

Skin disorders in stage II are quite diverse: a rash of the type of urticaria, secondary small annular erythema, lymphocytomas. Lymphocytoma is a rather specific sign of tick-borne borreliosis.

Stage II tick-borne borreliosis can manifest itself as a defeat of other organs and systems, but much less often. Since Borrelia spreads with blood throughout the body, they can "settle" anywhere. Cases of damage to the eyes, bronchi, liver, kidneys, and testicles are described.

III stage. In such patients, paresthesia and sensitivity disorders occur. It develops in a few months, and sometimes years after the onset of the disease. It has several typical and well-known manifestations of medicine:

More often, the disease chooses one of the body systems, i.e., it develops damage to either the joints, or the skin, or the nervous system. But over time, a combined defeat is possible.

Atrophic acrodermatitis is characterized by the appearance of bluish-red spots on the extensor surfaces of the knees, elbows, on the back of the hands, on the soles. The skin in these areas swells, thickens. With a relapse of the process, with the long existence of the disease, the skin atrophies, resembles tissue paper.

The defeat of the nervous system in stage III is very diverse. It manifests itself in the motor (paresis), and in the sensitive (decrease, increase in sensitivity, various kinds of pain, paresthesia), and in the coordinating (imbalance), and mental (impaired memory, thinking, intelligence) spheres.

Possible impaired vision, hearing, epileptic seizures, dysfunction of the pelvic organs. Patients almost always feel weakness, lethargy, they are not left with emotional disorders (in particular, depression).

Chronic borreliosis

If tick-borne borreliosis is not treated, then it goes into a chronic form, characterized by a relapse of the process. The disease proceeds with a gradual wave-like deterioration. Of the known clinical syndromes developing in the chronic course of the disease, the most common are:

• arthritis;
• lymphocytomas;
• atrophic acrodermatitis;
• multifocal damage to the nervous system (any structures of the nervous system may be involved in the process).

Borreliosis tests

The diagnosis of tick-borne borreliosis is based on clinical data (history of a tick bite, the presence of annular erythema) and data from laboratory research methods.

But since the tick bite can go unnoticed, and the disease can proceed without annular erythema and manifest itself only in stage II, laboratory diagnostic methods sometimes become the only way to confirm tick-borne borreliosis.

But the effectiveness of these methods does not exceed 50%. Therefore, indirect diagnostic methods are currently used:

Of course, the search for DNA fragments is somewhat more accurate than serological reactions. The latter can give false positive results in patients with syphilis, with rheumatic diseases, infectious mononucleosis.

Seronegative variants of tick-borne borreliosis are also found, and in the early stages in 50% of cases, a serological examination does not confirm the infection. Such situations require dynamic research.

Borreliosis treatment

The treatment of tick-borne borreliosis depends on the stage of the disease. Of course, it is most effective in stage I.

Apply two directions:

1. etiotropic - effect on the pathogen (antibiotic therapy);
2. symptomatic and pathogenetic - treatment of damage to organs and systems (nervous system, heart, joints, etc.).

As an etiotropic treatment in stage I, antibiotics are used orally (at the doctor's choice): Tetracycline 500 mg 4 r / day, Doxycycline (Vibramycin) 100 mg 2 r / day, Amoxicillin (Flemoxin, Amoxiclav) 500 mg 3 r / day , Cefuroxime 500 mg 2 r / day. The term of use is 10-14 days. In no case should you reduce the dosage or reduce the duration of use, as this leads to the survival of some Borrelia, which will multiply again.

In stage II, the parenteral use of antibiotics is indicated to provide a destructive concentration of the drug in the blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and synovial fluid. Use: Penicillin at 20-24 million units / day, Ceftriaxone at 1-2 g / day. The term of antibiotic use in this case is 14-21 days. In 85-90% of cases, it cures tick-borne borreliosis.

In stage III, a duration of antibiotic administration of at least 28 days is recommended. The penicillin row is usually used. Since the frequency of administration of Penicillin is up to 8 r / day and the patient will need 224 injections within 28 days, today, they use a prolonged form of Extensillin (Retarpen) at 2.4 million units once a week for 3 weeks.

If there is no effect from the use of one or another antibiotic, there is no positive dynamics in the study of cerebrospinal fluid, then it is recommended to change the antibiotic to another.

Preventive antibiotic therapy is also carried out. It is shown to people who have applied for medical care within 5 days from the moment of being bitten by a tick, provided that the tick was brought along (or removed already in a medical institution) and Borrelia (under a microscope) was found during examination of the tick.

Symptomatic and pathogenetic treatment involves the use of antipyretic, detoxification, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, cardiac, restorative, vitamin and other drugs. It all depends on the clinical form and stage of the disease.

The consequences of borreliosis

If the disease is detected in stage I and adequate treatment is carried out, then in most cases a full recovery occurs. Stage II is also cured in 85-90% of cases, without leaving consequences.

With late diagnosis, an incomplete course of treatment, with defects in the immune response, the disease can go into stage III or chronic form.

The condition improves, but functional disorders that can cause disability remain:

• persistent paresis - a decrease in muscle strength in the legs or arms;
• sensitivity disorders;
• deformation of the face due to damage to the facial nerve;
• hearing and vision impairment;
• pronounced unsteadiness when walking;
• epileptic seizures;
• joint deformation and impaired function;
• heart failure;
• arrhythmias.

Of course, not all of these symptoms will necessarily be in every patient with stage III or chronic form. Sometimes, even in advanced cases, a significant improvement and, although slow, recovery is possible.

Tick-borne borreliosis is a dangerous infectious disease that can develop imperceptibly for the patient. Especially if the tick bite has not been seen.

It is confirmed mainly by laboratory diagnostic methods. It is effectively treated with antibiotic courses, provided that it is used early. Otherwise, it can become chronic and leave behind irreversible functional disorders.

Borreliosis: symptoms and treatment

Borreliosis, which is also defined as Lyme disease, Lyme borreliosis, tick-borne borreliosis and otherwise, is a natural focal disease of a transmissible type.

Borreliosis, the symptoms of which are damage to the joints, skin, heart and nervous system, is often characterized by a chronic, as well as recurring, own course.

general description

The causative agent of the disease in question is Borrelia - a bacterium of the spirochete family. And if the tick-borne encephalitis virus can be infected through tick saliva, then the reproduction of borrelia mainly occurs in ticks in the intestine with their subsequent excretion through feces.

This feature, respectively, determines the possible variant of infection, that is, it can occur not only through a tick bite, but also when it is crushed by fingers.

Borrelia infection occurs in the summer. In particular, the bite of an ixodid tick becomes dangerous in this case - in the life of this variety of parasites, a period of activity begins at this time.

Acute Borreliosis: Symptoms

The duration of the incubation period can be about thirty days, but most often it is determined at 5-11 days. Clinical observations allowed us to determine the early period of this disease, as well as its late period.

So, the early period is defined as stage 1, which is based on manifestations in the form of skin and general infection symptoms, and, accordingly, stage 2.

As for the late period (persistence period), its development is noted after 2 months from the onset of the disease or several years from the same moment. In this case, it is already a chronic form of the manifestation of borreliosis, in which all the symptoms characteristic of it arise.

Despite the fact that in the classical version of the course of borreliosis there are three stages of the disease, according to which it can occur, the presence of all of them, meanwhile, is not mandatory. So, in some cases, stage 1 may be absent, and in others - stage 2 and stage 3.

1st stage. Its duration is an average of a week. The manifestations characteristic of this stage of the course of the disease are in the features corresponding to the infectious disease, while an additional manifestation is skin damage.

In addition, joint pain (arthralgia) and muscle pain (myalgia) occur. Characteristic manifestations are also marked severe weakness, drowsiness, fatigue.

Often, regional lymphadenitis with respect to the bite site acquires relevance, the muscles of the neck become stable rigidity. Erythema occurring at the site of a tick bite is the main clinical manifestation of borreliosis. So, at the site of suction of the parasite, a papule or red spot forms.

Gradually, an increase in redness along the periphery is observed, while its size can be from 1 to 10 centimeters, or reach 60 or more centimeters, at the same time cyanotic edema is formed.

A characteristic manifestation of ring-shaped erythema in Lyme disease

As a rule, erythema feels painful and hot, often its occurrence is accompanied by burning and itching. The shape is predominantly round or oval, in rarer cases characterized by its own irregularity.

Quite often, the center of erythema is characterized by enlightenment, the same, in turn, gives it a characteristic annular shape. Meanwhile, quite often it also appears as a homogeneous spot.

Erythema can persist for a sufficiently long period of time, calculated in months, and in some cases it may disappear without the need for treatment. In this case, the duration of storage may be of the order of two to three weeks, and in some cases several days.

Etiotropic therapy leads to a rapid regression of this formation, after which, by the 7-10th day, its complete disappearance can be observed. Traces of erythema may be absent after its disappearance, and may be expressed in a residual phenomenon in the form of peeling and pigmentation.

As for the site of the parasite's bite, a crust or scar may remain on it. A number of patients are faced not only with the formation of erythema in the area of ​​the tick bite, but also with the emergence of the so-called "daughter" erythema, which focus on other parts of the skin.

This arrangement is due to the hematogenous spread of the virus. Unlike the primary focus, such erythema are characterized by smaller sizes. In addition, there are no traces of a tick bite, as well as located in the center of the induction zone (characteristic compaction).

In addition, speaking of erythema, it is important to note the fact that its occurrence may not be accompanied by signs of intoxication and fever, and therefore this formation is the only manifestation of the disease in many cases.

It is noteworthy that the primary type of allergic reaction from the skin to the bite has nothing to do with tick-borne borreliosis, and it disappears a few days after the removal of the parasite.

2 stage. Characteristic for this period is the occurrence of cardiac and neurological complications that become relevant from the second or fourth week of the disease. Manifestations of mild symptoms, indicating irritation of the meninges, can occur quite early, at the time of preservation of erythema.

Severe neurological symptoms in most cases are observed several weeks after the onset of the disease, that is, from the moment when the erythema acting as a marker of the disease has already disappeared.

Arising serous meningitis occurs in combination with a headache of varying degrees of intensity, with photophobia, nausea and vomiting, soreness that occurs in the eyeballs, stiff neck muscles.

More than half of patients experience symptoms of cranial nerve neuritis, most often in which a seventh pair of cranial nerves is affected.

Often this can be accompanied by paresis (partial loss of muscle strength) of the muscles of the face, as well as tingling and numbness of the affected part of the face. Actual manifestations in this case may be pain in the lower jaw or ear.

One of the typical neurological disorders is Bannwart’s syndrome, which includes serous meningitis along with damage to the roots of the spinal nerves, with their predominant concentration in the cervicothoracic region.

It is important to note that it is the damage to the nervous system that allows you to determine tick-borne borreliosis in the event that there are no characteristic erythema and common infection syndrome. It is noteworthy that in the same period under consideration (5 weeks), about 8% of the total number of patients begin to experience cardiac-scale disorders.

They consist in pain and the appearance of unpleasant sensations in the heart, interruptions in heart contractions are also relevant. Perhaps the development of myocarditis or pericarditis. The duration of the manifestation of cardiac symptoms can be from several days to six weeks.

In addition, we note that the duration of stage 2 is also characterized by the preservation of weakness, migratory pain in the joints, muscles and bones.

3 stage. A characteristic feature of its course is damage to the joints, which begins two months after the onset of the disease and later. As a rule, large joints (especially knee joints) are affected, often localization is one-sided.

In many cases, the development of symmetric polyarthritis becomes relevant. Arthritis recurs, mainly over several years, while their course is characterized as chronic, with simultaneous destruction of cartilage and bones.

The late period of the disease with a constant stay in the body of its pathogen leads to the course of the disease in a chronic form.

Lyme Borreliosis: Chronic Symptoms

The course of the chronic form of borreliosis is characterized by the alternation of remissions with relapses. In some cases, the disease also becomes relapsing in its continuous manifestation.

A fairly frequent symptom is skin damage, manifested in the form of benign lymphocytoma, which is a swollen and dense infiltrate (i.e. nodule) of bright crimson color. It is characterized by mild soreness, determined by palpation.

It can be located in the area of ​​the nipple of the mammary gland or on the earlobe, while the duration of its preservation in these areas can be from several months to several years.

Another typical lesion for the chronic form of the disease is atrophic chronic acrodermatitis. It is cyanotic red spots formed in the region of extensor surfaces of the limbs, with a tendency to peripheral increase in size, as well as to fusion and systematic inflammation.

It should be noted that tick-borne borreliosis, the symptoms of which occur for a long time in a chronic form of the course of the disease, in some cases causes partial or complete disability.

Diagnosis

In relation to the division we have given at the stage as a whole, it should be noted that it is conditional in nature, and the clinical manifestations for each of the periods are not mandatory for each patient.

An early diagnosis of the disease is carried out, meanwhile, on the basis of the obtained clinical and epidemiological indicators.

Laboratory diagnosis in particular is based on a serological blood test.

Treatment

Patients in whom a moderate course of borreliosis is indicated are required to be hospitalized in an infectious diseases hospital. Treatment in its conditions is required at all periods of the course of the disease.

The mild course of borreliosis (with the absence of intoxication and fever, in the presence of erythema) provides for the possibility of treatment at home.

The etiotropic drugs used in treatment are antibiotics. Their choice, dosage, as well as the duration of use are determined based on the specific stage of the disease, as well as the prevailing syndrome in it with its characteristic form and severity.

In case of symptoms characteristic of tick-borne borreliosis, you should immediately contact an infectious disease specialist.

Diseases with similar symptoms

Hepatitis G (matching symptoms: 9 out of 18). Hepatitis G is an infectious disease caused by the negative effect of a specific pathogen on the liver. Among other varieties of such a disease, it is diagnosed least often.

The forecast completely depends on the variant of its course. The carrier of the pathological agent is considered to be a sick person and an asymptomatic virus carrier. Most often, infection is carried out through the blood, but there are other mechanisms by which bacteria enter.

A large number of both pathological and physiological predisposing factors can cause the development of such an ailment. An insect bite, excessively high or low temperatures, an overdose of drugs or intolerance to a particular food product can act as a provocateur.

Fever of unclear genesis (coinciding symptoms: 9 out of 18). Fever of unclear origin (syn. LNG, hyperthermia) is a clinical case in which elevated body temperature is the leading or only clinical sign.

This condition is said when the values ​​are stored for 3 weeks (in children - longer than 8 days) or more.

Salmonellosis (matching symptoms: 8 out of 18). Salmonellosis is an acute infectious disease provoked by the influence of Salmonella bacteria, which, in fact, determines its name.

Urticaria (matching symptoms: 8 out of 18). Urticaria is one of the most common diseases that an allergist uses to handle. In general, the term “urticaria” refers to a number of certain diseases characterized by different nature of occurrence, but manifesting in the same way.

Urticaria, the symptoms of which are manifested in the form of an accumulation of blisters on the skin and mucous membranes resembling a burn caused by exposure to nettle skin, is for this reason called.

Treatment of tick-borne borreliosis folk remedies

Before using folk remedies for the treatment of tick-borne borreliosis, be sure to consult your doctor!

White clay helps to remove toxins from the body, which are the waste products of a bacterial infection.

Seaweed. Every night, before going to bed, drink one sachet of pharmacy dry seaweed for 10 days. After a 10-day break, and the course must be repeated. So alternate until complete recovery.

A seaweed drink cleanses the blood, lymph, and intestines from infection and its toxins.

Herbal infusions. To cleanse the body of infection, as well as relieve itching and healing erythema, you can drink infusions and make lotions from the following plants - nettle, field horsetail, elecampane, immortelle, wormwood, tansy, calendula, hawthorn, birch leaves, linden flowers, strawberries.

For the preparation of infusions you need 1 tbsp. a spoonful of plant material pour 500 ml of boiling water, cover the product and set aside for 30 minutes to insist.

You need to drink in a glass, 15-20 minutes before eating. If the grass is bitter, then you can drink half a glass of infusion. The course of treatment is at least 5 years. It is better to alternate infusions, drinking each of the plants for at least 1 month.

Prevention

Prevention of tick-borne borreliosis implies compliance with safety rules to prevent tick bites. There are no other preventive measures to prevent the onset and development of Lyme disease, including vaccination today (2017).

Thus, in order to prevent a tick bite, it is necessary:

1. When hiking in the forest, dress so that the tick cannot get on your skin - high boots, long trousers tucked into socks, a long-sleeved shirt tucked into trousers, well if with tight cuffs, gloves and a hat;
2. Treat clothes with means that repel insects - the so-called - repellents;
3. Good repellents and exposed areas of the body;
4. If you have a dog in the house, after a walk, be sure to examine it for ticks, as they can get off the animal and crawl onto the person.
5. If the tick nevertheless gets on the skin and sticks, it must be removed.

To do this, always take tweezers or special tweezers for pulling out ticks with you on nature.

When they grab the tick by its head, gradually unscrew it like a screw. After the bite, treat with a disinfectant or wash with soap and water.

After removing the tick, consult a doctor.

Also remember, when removing a tick, for example from an animal, do not crush it with your nails so that the contents of the tick do not get on the skin. If the skin has an open wound (cut, etc.), the infection can easily get there and infect the body.

The consequences of borreliosis

The consequences of borreliosis become apparent if Lyme disease is allowed to transition to the second and third stages of development. These stages, especially the third, are characterized by chronic damage to the cardiovascular system, joints, membranes of the brain, etc.

Thus, it is better to arm yourself with knowledge of preventive measures to prevent infection with borrelia.

How tick-borne borreliosis manifests itself - the first signs after a bite and symptoms of Lyme disease

Tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease) is a disease that has a wide range of clinical presentation and leads to disastrous results.

Experts also do not agree on the same opinion about the diagnosis of this disease, and its treatment. The article will help to understand the question of what kind of disease it is and why you should know about it.

Causes of the disease

Lyme disease is an acquired, infectious disease. The causative agent of the disease is an ixodid tick infected with borrelia, and in particular its bite.

The first symptoms of borreliosis are headache and muscle pain, fatigue, and redness of the skin (erythema).

Subsequently, there is a rapid multiplication of microorganisms - borrelia, damaging the tissues of the internal organs and body fluids of the patient, pains in the joints and muscles, the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system, the heart and, as a result, disability, are affected.

The danger of this disease is that if improperly treated, it can develop into a chronic form that lasts several years, with constant relapses.

The defeat of people with Lyme disease is several times more likely than tick-borne encephalitis.

The disease is named after the town of Lyme, in the United States, where the case of the disease was first recorded and described. Currently, the disease is observed in most parts of the country.

According to the latest statistics, cases have occurred in some European countries. Russia was no exception. Cases were recorded in different parts of it.

Factors and risk groups

The Lyme disease risk group includes:

Epidemiology and etiology

Natural carriers of Lyme disease pathogens are animals (deer, dogs, cattle and small cattle, rodents), so there is a risk of infection in those who keep pets.

To date, Borrelia has been little studied. There are clinical results of studies that are questionable by one or another doctor, but they all agree that spirochetes are small in diameter and able to penetrate everywhere.

Propagate rapidly, at a temperature of about 35 degrees. More than 10 groups of various types of borrelia have been distinguished throughout the globe, because of this, the action of certain antibiotics is not always effective.

Signs and Symptoms of Lyme Disease

Symptoms of borreliosis after a tick bite:

1. redness of the skin appears in the form of a spot (it remains on the skin for several weeks, then passes on its own);
2. the spot is constantly increasing in size;
3. has a rounded (less often oval and irregular) shape;
4. the outer edge of the spot rises;
5. headaches, general body fatigue, fever are possible.

After 4 weeks, tick-borne borreliosis has the following symptoms:

Lyme disease borreliosis has the following initial symptoms:

1. On the skin, at the site of a tick bite, in the first two days, redness appears.If dirt gets into it, a purulent focus can develop. Itching and tingling are sometimes noted.
2. Fever, dizziness, general tiredness.

When these signs appear (if you were in a wooded area), you should urgently inspect the skin and contact the clinic.

Symptoms of acute form

Like many diseases, Lyme disease differs in separate stages (I, II, III). Not always the patient goes through all stages, due to the fact that І and ІІ are the early phases, and ІІІ is the final (last).

First stage. Signs of tick-borne borreliosis in the first stage are characterized by the appearance on the skin of erythema, which has the shape of a ring. Appears at the site of a tick bite and then diverges to other areas of the skin.

Sometimes there are no erythema on the skin, but a slight itching and tingling is observed at the site of the bite.

Stage Two - Harder. Signs of Lyme disease in the second stage:

• damage to the nervous system and the development of Bennworth syndrome or meningitis (headaches, paresis of the facial nerve, nausea, vomiting appear);
• damage to the cardiovascular system with the development of myocarditis, pericarditis and blockades of various degrees (pain in the heart, tachycardia, an increase in heart size);
• various skin lesions (redness);
• conjunctivitis, arthralgia may develop;
• there is an increase in the liver, hepatitis (mild), dropsy of the testicles.

This is due to the fact that Borrelia already penetrate the organs and tissues of the patient's body. Most often, after a month, when the period of fever passes, erythema disappears on its own.

Stage Three - Final. Tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease) has the following symptoms in the third stage:

• arthritis;
• atrophic acrodermatitis (chronic form);
• encephalitis;
• polyneuropathy.

Chronic form

After some time, which can fluctuate in the range of 2-24 months, if there was an incorrect diagnosis and, accordingly, treatment, the disease flows into a chronic form.

It is characterized by:

The most dangerous thing is that the chronic form can lead to complete or partial loss of performance.

Diagnostics

When considering diagnostics, you should first of all pay attention to the period of the year.

There is a danger (children are more likely to be exposed to it), not to pay attention to the bite or not to remove the parasite from the skin in time, as a result of which there is a danger of infection.

If there was a tick bite, you should pay attention to:

• Erythema, most often they acquire a circular shape at the site of a tick bite. After diverge to other areas of the skin. Patients, in most cases, note the absence of itching.
• Do not neglect laboratory tests of both the tick itself (if it was extracted from the skin), and the patient's analyzes (from the skin of the patient, his biological fluid) for the presence and amount of borrelia in the body.
• One of these is an analysis confirming the presence of the disease using synovial fluid. The essence of the analysis is the detection of antibodies to serum Borrelia. However, the analysis is considered ineffective in the first period of the disease.

In conclusion, I want to note that the tick bite itself is not dangerous, the content of the infection and the consequences of the development of the disease in the parasite is dangerous. Try to avoid visiting places during tick activity where an insect is possible.

If you have nevertheless visited such places, take precautions.

Lyme Borreliosis

Lyme borreliosis (Lyme disease, Lyme borreliosis, tick-borne tick-borne borreliosis.) Currently Lyme disease (BL) (Lyme disease - English, la maladie de Lyme - French, Die Lyme-Krankheit - German) is considered as a natural focal , an infectious, polysystemic disease with complex pathogenesis, including a complex of immune-mediated reactions.

When infected, a complex of inflammatory-allergic changes in the skin usually develops at the site of suction of the tick, which manifests itself in the form of a specific erythema characteristic of BL.

The local persistence of the pathogen over a certain period of time determines the clinical picture - a relatively satisfactory state of health, a mild syndrome of general intoxication, the absence of other manifestations characteristic of BL, delayed immune response.

With the progression of the disease (or in patients without a local phase immediately) in the pathogenesis of symptom complexes, the hematogenous, possibly lymphogenous pathway of the spread of borrelia from the site of introduction to the internal organs, joints, and lymph formations is important; perineural, and subsequently rostral, involving the meninges in the inflammatory process.

When the pathogen enters various organs and tissues, an active irritation of the immune system occurs, which leads to a generalized and local humoral and cellular hyperimmune response.

In the case of disease progression (absence or insufficient treatment), the spectrum of antibodies to spirochete antigens (to polypeptides from 16 to 93 kD) expands, which leads to prolonged production of IgM and IgG.

The number of circulating immune complexes is increasing. Immune complexes can also form in affected tissues, which activate the main factors of inflammation - the generation of leukotactic stimuli and phagocytosis.

A characteristic feature is the presence of lymphoplasmic infiltrates found in the skin, subcutaneous tissue, lymph nodes, spleen, brain, peripheral ganglia.

Increases the level of T-helpers and T-suppressors, the index of stimulation of blood lymphocytes.It was established that the degree of change in the cellular component of the immune system depends on the severity of the course of the disease.