The hyper-communication around Lyme disease seems to have generated collective awareness in recent months and at the same time, shaped misconceptions. Let’s disentangle the true from the false.
Secondary to the transmission of bacteria during a tick bite, Lyme disease is an infectious disease manifested by diffuse chronic and disabling pain, which can ultimately lead to neurological disorders and facial paralysis. . The French authorities recognize around 30,000 new cases each year. The average prevalence is estimated at 43 cases per 100,000 inhabitants since 2009. For comparison, it was 16.5 cases per 100,000 people between 1999 and 2000 and 9.4 cases per 100,000 individuals from 1988 to 1989, according to Public Health France.
Not all ticks are infected
The hyper-communication around this disease seems to have generated collective awareness in recent months and at the same time, shaped misconceptions. For example, not all ticks are vectors of Lyme disease. Only those infected with the bacteria can transmit it to humans during a bite. And for that, it is necessary for the tick to remain attached to a person for several hours. Ticks are not naturally infected, they are contaminated when they feed on the blood of wild animals themselves contaminated.
They don’t move far on their own. However, their spread by different vectors (rodents, migratory birds, domestic animals) makes it possible to be bitten outside of woods and natural spaces. For example, they can stick to migrating birds and fall far from their original location.
The disease goes away with early treatment
Lyme disease can appear within 30 days of the bite, first as a red, round patch that extends in a circle (erythema migrans) from the area of the bite. The skin lesion can be accompanied by muscle and joint pain, or even fever. With early treatment, it goes away within a few weeks to a few months. “The symptoms are multiple: joint pain, tremors and neurological disorders – memory loss, depression”, explained Eric Oden to France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
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In the absence of treatment, the progression to the secondary phase is not systematic, but worsens the prognosis: the infection can become chronic and spread from the skin to the whole body. It will then give serious complications which can affect several organs (joints, brain, heart …). “Months to years after infection can appear tertiary, articular, skin, neurological, muscular, or cardiac”, recalls the Ministry of Health.
The Lyme Disease Business
“It started with a very great fatigue. Terrible muscle pain especially at night. At one point I could no longer walk, tells France Bleu Marie José Silva. I started with the wheelchair, then the walker. Today I walk but I can no longer drive, I lost my job. And to move out of the house, I need my husband or my children. ”Marie José Silva also laments the lack of recognition of Lyme disease and feels aggrieved, trapped by a disease little considered. “I don’t want to fight anymore because nobody wants to fight with us. I think of the doctors. We should be hospitalized, have adequate treatment when things are not going well. When you have a cold, you go to a doctor, he will listen to you, he will give you what you need to take care of you. While we, well no, there is no one there. ”
Is Lyme disease really overlooked by the scientific community? Are patients really neglected by the health system? “There are patients in whom Lyme disease has been recognized and treated”, explains Professor of Infectious Disease Jean-Paul Stahl. “Then there are the people who are made to believe they have it. They have a negative serology after the blood test, which means that they have never been in contact with it. bacteria “, but some” crooks “exploit their weakness. “They have symptoms, are sick, but don’t have Lyme disease.”
Why are these patients persuaded to have it? “Some, for example, are followed to the ‘BCA-Clinic ‘(Borreliose Centrum Augsburg) in Germany “and pay” 1000 euros per week: they are called regularly to find out if they have passed their exams – paying and we exercise sectarian power over them. “Jean-Paul Stahl a recovered some of these patients persuaded to have Lyme disease: “I have met patients in fact suffering from a brain tumor, cancer, Hodgkin’s disease or even multiple sclerosis. . locked in bogus diagnoses and facing a real loss of luck. ”
How to avoid bites?
It is important to protect yourself against tick bites, in particular by wearing light-colored clothing in order to distinguish them more easily on the fabric, closed shoes, to cover your head and to favor open paths rather than tall grass. Remember to carefully inspect everyone after a risky ride, as well as pets.
If you have been bitten, it is urgent to quickly remove the tick, if possible within 12 to 36 hours of the bite. A tick puller (sold in pharmacies) is essential to remove it by grasping it in the direction of the axis of its body (in order to remove the whole body) and by rotating it counterclockwise. .
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This should be done with delicacy so that the tick does not vomit any bacteria it carries under your skin. Do not hesitate to use a magnifying glass and disinfect the area once the tick has been removed. You will still need to watch the bite for a month to make sure that a red patch does not develop there. If this is the case, seek medical attention promptly.
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