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The tick season is in full swing. Due to the not very cold winter, the arachnids woke up quite early and are not going to hibernate at all. For this reason, more and more cases of Lyme disease are recorded in our country. Even 10 years ago, there were about 4 thousand of them, in recent years this number has grown to 20 – 22 thousand. annually. What it comes from?
Lyme disease is dangerous all over Poland
Lyme disease is a dangerous tick-borne disease that, if left untreated, can have serious health consequences. In recent years, more and more cases of Lyme disease have been reported in Poland. As reported in an interview with MedTvoiLokony, Jan Bondar, the press spokesman of the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate, in 2019 (from January to the end of July) there were 9297 cases of Lyme disease. In the same period in 2018, there were 9757 such cases. From January to the end of December 2018, 20 cases of infection were recorded, and in 139 – 2017.
– The greatest number of cases is observed in the voivodships of the eastern wall – Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Podlaskie, Lubelskie, up to Małopolskie and Opolskie. There, the number of infected people is higher than the average for the whole country – adds Jan Bondar.
The expert also admits that in recent years we have observed an increase in the incidence of Lyme disease. Even 10 years ago, about 4 were recorded annually. such cases, now there are even 22 thousand of them per year.
Better diagnostics and more infected ticks
The increase in the incidence of Lyme disease is worrying. According to “Dziennik Polski”, as many as 2019 cases of the disease were detected in Małopolska itself from January to the end of May 831. In 2018, 3641 people heard the diagnosis of Lyme disease in Małopolska.
What is the reason of this increase in the incidence?
– There are two reasons. First, the number of ticks infected with Lyme disease continues to increase. Secondly, there is a growing awareness of doctors and patients about the disease, which is why it is increasingly used in making a diagnosis, explains Bondar.
What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?
Lyme disease is spread through tick bites. These arachnids are especially active in July and August, when most of us are on vacation. Not every tick bite is necessarily an infection. The risk increases if the tick has been in the skin for at least 24 hours.
The most characteristic symptom of Lyme disease is migratory erythema. It appears on the skin around the bite site 3 to 30 days after the bite. A pale circle appears around the bite, and a red ring forms around it that grows larger. Usually it has a diameter of more than 5 cm.
Unfortunately, this symptom occurs only in about 30 percent. infected. Lack of migratory erythema is not the basis for excluding Lyme disease. The symptoms of infection are similar to the flu. There is fever, weakness, pain and numbness in the limbs, chills, sore throat, stiffness and pain in the joints, hot flushes.
If Lyme disease is not detected and treated in the early stages, it can become a chronic condition that is very difficult to treat.
Diagnostic tests are used to exclude or confirm the disease, but none of them gives XNUMX% effectiveness. You can choose from if there are several tests, incl. ELISA test (least effective), Western Blot test and PCR test.
Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics.