By Ogova Ondego
Published April 16, 2024
Michael, Mary and their two children had had a wonderful holiday. But hardly had a week passed before Michael caught a fever and a rash appeared on his skin. Thinking it was common cold, he did not bother to seek medical attention. Two days later, however, the headache and pain in the joints intensified. His neck also stiffened. A little later, Mary experienced facial paralysis, dizziness and shortness of breath and Michael noted that Mary’s memory was also failing her. She miscarried while undergoing treatment. The family’s youngest member was attacked by meningitis and had to be admitted to hospital.
It later turned out that the family had been bitten by ticks infected with borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. They had thus been infected with Lyme, a disease which derives its name from a US town where it was first discovered.
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According to medical experts, the first symptoms of the disease is a skin known as erythema migrans. They say fever, fatigue, aches and stiff joints usually accompany the rash and that if treatment is delayed these symptoms usually develop into chronic arthritis. Heart problems may also ensue.
What makes Lyme disease particularly difficult to diagnose is that its symptoms are similar to those of other infections such as flu.
“It should be borne in mind that people are usually unaware that ticks can transmit disease to humans,” says a source at Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). “Blood tests are unreliable as they simply show that an infection has occurred without specifying the sort of infection.”
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Awake! magazine urges doctors to base their diagnoses on the history of a tick bite, the patient’s symptoms and a thorough elimination of other diseases that may have triggered the infection. If diagnosed in time, the disease could be successfully treated with antibiotics.
Awake! says that even months following the infection, the patient may experience fatigue and aches but that these usually decrease on their own without any further treatment.
So far there is no vaccination against this tick-borne disease and the best protection is to guard against being bitten by ticks.
Medics recommend that walking in areas with tick-infested animals should wear long sleeved shirts, long trousers and a head covering.
While trouser legs should be tucked in socks, the shoes should cover the feet completely. Wearing light-coloured clothes makes it easier to detect any ticks on the body.
Once indoors, those who have just taken a stroll in the bush are advised to check for ticks, especially in the hairy regions of the body.
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Pets should also be checked for ticks before they enter the house as they, too, can be infected by Lyme disease, not to mention that the ticks may also bite humans.
Awake! says insect repellents applied to clothing and skin are effective but that they can cause serious side effects particularly to children.
If a pregnant woman is bitten by an infected tick, the infection could be passed on to the foetus and lead either to a miscarriage or a still birth.
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