Protecting Against Lyme Disease

(CBS)  A mild winter and wet spring are good conditions for the tiny deer ticks which can pass on Lyme disease. CBS News Health Contributor Dr. Bernadine Healy talked about symptoms, treatments and prevention of the debilitating disease on The Saturday Early Show.

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Lyme disease is spread through the bite from a deer tick. People often don't realize they've been bitten by deer-tick nymphs, which are about the size of a pinhead. That's important because the ticks must stay attached to a person for 24 hours or more to transmit the disease.

Symptoms

The first sign of Lyme disease is a red rash at the site of the tick bite that can show up days or even weeks after the bite. Typical symptoms include fatigue, headache and muscular pain or stiffness. Existing blood tests do not accurately determine whether a patient has the disease. Doctors must rely on observations to make the diagnosis because they have no way to isolate the bacterial organism that causes Lyme as they can, for example, with the bacteria that induce strep throat.

Treatments

Early treatment with antibiotics usually works. But left untreated, the disease can have serious effects on the joints, nerves and heart. A vaccine for Lyme disease, marketed as Lymerix, was approved by the FDA in December 1998. It is safe and is 80 percent effective. It requires three shots over the course of a year.

However, the vaccine does not work for everyone and does not protect against other tick-borne diseases. It is also not recommended for people with chronic arthritis, pregnant women and children under the age of 15, although further clinical trials are underway.

A second vaccine against Lyme disease is awaiting FDA approval.

Also, researchers have developed a new blood test that may dramatically improve the value of the laboratory in diagnosing early cases of Lyme disease, differentiating between active and past infection, and eliminating Lyme disease as a possible cause of symptoms commonly attributed to it. Follow-up studies will be needed.

Prevention

People going into potentially tick-infested areas should wear hats, long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into their socks. People should brush off their clothes when they leave the woods and check themselves carefully for ticks at home, getting help examining hard-to-see areas.

If you do have a tick on your skin, use tweezers to pluck it off. Don't squeeze the tick during removal increases the risk of transmitting the disease.

For more on summer health issues, click on our Health page in the Summer section.