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Small bites, big risk
Published September 24, 2009
It started innocently enough for a woman who spends 80 percent of her time outdoors.
When Leakey resident Teresa Alaniz removed a tick from her hairline behind her left ear in January of 2008, she never gave it a second thought.
She didn’t think about that tick weeks later when she experienced a stabbing pain in the back of her head, followed by a warming sensation on her face and a metallic taste in her mouth.
After being treated for a sinus infection by her local doctor, Alaniz said the symptoms went away for about week, before she realized something else was wrong.
“I began having severe headaches, a lack of concentration, loss of memory, slurred speech, balance issues, vision problems, and I had trouble performing everyday tasks,” she said. “I couldn’t even put on my shoes properly. And the fatigue was overwhelming.”
In early April, she again saw her physician, and realizing something major was happening, he sent her to a hospital for lab work and an MRI. After a multitude of tests, doctors narrowed the problem to a pituitary cyst and Lyme disease.
Alaniz went through more than three months of physical therapy, and by the end of November, she should have been feeling better.
But “my health still was on a downward spiral,” she said.
Alaniz knew something had to change, so she did some research and found a doctor in Dallas who was “Lyme literate.”
Alaniz started making regular trips to Dallas, where she was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease. She recently learned she had transmitted the disease to her daughter through her placenta and her husband through transmission of bodily fluids like saliva.
“It has been proven this is a transmittable disease, and now my daughter has it,” said an emotional Alaniz.
What is Lyme disease?
“Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S.,” according to the Texas Lyme Disease Association. “From ’94 to ’06, an average of 74 cases were reported annually in Texas. Many diagnosed cases are not reflected in official statistics due to restrictive reporting criteria. Lyme largely is unrecognized in Texas, so it often is misdiagnosed by doctors who are unfamiliar with its clinical presentation.”
The disease is endemic in Texas — patients with Lyme disease live in each of the 11 public health regions in Texas.
“Texans are at risk of Lyme disease both from native sources and those brought in by migrating birds and animals, as well as from travel to other endemic areas. Visitors to any undeveloped countryside are at considerable risk of being bitten by ticks that carry the Lyme disease bacteria. Ticks also may be picked up in high grass, on golf courses, school playgrounds, greenbelts, farms, ranches and in private yards,” according to the TLDA. “Anyone who engages in outdoor pursuits may be exposed to Lyme disease and should take proper precautions.”
Lyme is caused by a spirochete (spiral bacteria). Diagnosis often is complex and a bulls-eye rash is the only certain sign of the disease, although only about 50 percent of those infected ever get a rash. The disease can start with mild, flu-like symptoms, which often include debilitating fatigue. It can affect the nervous system, heart and blood vessels, lungs, eyes, joints and stomach.
Prevention
Some steps to take to avoid contracting Lyme include wearing light colored clothing to spot ticks better, tuck pants into boots or socks, use insect repellents, use tick preventives on pets, and inspect yourself thoroughly after being in the outdoors.
A tick removal kit with instructions is available from the American Red Cross.
For more information on Lyme disease, go to the TLDA Web site at www.txlda.org.
Facts about Lyme disease
➤ Lyme disease has surpassed AIDS as one of the fastest growing infectious epidemics in our nation, with a cost to society measured in the billions of dollars.
➤ Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the state.
➤ Lyme disease is endemic in Texas and physicians need to be familiar with it.
➤ Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, has been detected in Texas ticks.
➤ Epidemiological evidence suggests the “Lone Star” tick is the vector of Lyme disease in Texas. This is an aggressive species that will feed on a variety of hosts, including humans.
➤ There are four reportable tick-borne illnesses in Texas: ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tick-borne relapsing fever. Patients in Texas also have been diagnosed with babesiosis, a malaria-like, tick-borne illness with recurring fevers.
➤ It is best to rely on exposure history and compatible signs and symptoms for the diagnosis of Lyme disease.
➤ The longer the time between tick bite infected with Borrelia burgdorferi and diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease, the more likely the illness will be serious and increase the cost of treatment.
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