Beware Lyme Disease: Tick Season Is Almost Here

There is no way to sugar-coat it: May is the official start of Lyme disease season. Carried by the Black-legged, or deer, tick reported cases of Lyme disease are on the rise in Maryland, the state where I live. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 28,000 confirmed cases of Lyme disease were reported nationwide in 2008. This is 5% more than reported in 2007, and double the number reported in 1991, with the most cases reported in the Northeast.

About the size of sesame seed, when the deer tick latches onto a host it passes along Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. In its early acute phase, (also known as the First Stage) most individuals with Lyme disease will first see a circular or oval rash (called erythema migrans) at the site of the tick bit. It can appear within 3 days of the bite, but sometimes may take as long as 30 days to develop. The red rash can grow up to 12 inches across, and often has a clearing in the center that gives it the look of a bulls-eye. Other symptoms i....

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