Lyme Disease and Pregnancy Lyme disease can affect everyone due to a deer tick bite. Deer tick bites usually occur during spring or summer, when people tend to spend more time outside. What if a deer tick bites you while pregnant? Should you be concerned? As mentioned, during spring and summer you will probably spend a lot of time outside in grassy or woody areas. This increases the risk of getting a deer tick bite. However, because you are pregnant you should take good care of your own health and the development of your baby inside your uterus. For this reason, it’s a good thing to know what to do and how to react in such cases. Can Lyme disease really develop after a deer tick bite and will Lyme disease if it develops affect the health of your little one growing inside of you. Lyme disease is perhaps the most commonly reported disease which results from a vector, commonly referred to as a vector – borne illness. Vector – borne illnesses are transmitted to the humans through ticks, mosquitos or fly. Luckily, if a deer tick bites you and you diagnose and treat it in time, there are no side effects for your baby. However, if you don’t realize that a deer tick has bit you and its progress into Lyme disease during pregnancy, serious health issues regarding you and your baby will develop. What is Lyme disease? Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, as mentioned it is caused by a bite from a deer tick. It will take about 36 to 48 hours for the deer tick to transmit the disease to you. This is more likely to occur in cases when you can’t see an attached tick to your body, especially if deer ticks attach in places that are difficult to see. If a deer tick bites you in the armpit, scalp or groin area there is a greater chance that you will not even be aware of such a bite. This leaves the deer tick attached to your body for a long period of time, just enough for it to transmit the infection to you. In such cases, the diagnosis is suspected and made only when signs and symptoms of Lyme disease develop. According to doctors, about 300,000 people each year in the United States develop Lyme disease due to a deer tick bite. You may experience fever, loss of appetite, as well as pain and even pelvic pain if pregnant. Signs and symptoms of Lyme disease Common signs and symptoms of Lyme disease include:
• Red and circular rash at the site where the deer tick was attached to the body, similar to bull’s eye. The longer the deer tick stays attached to the body, the bigger the red circular rash will be. •
Fever,
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Chills,
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Nausea and vomiting,
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Joint pain,
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Headache,
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Swollen lymph nodes, etc.
The above – mentioned signs and symptoms occur in an early stage of the disease. If the diagnosis is not made and the treatment is not started in the meantime, other signs and symptoms, often referred to as later symptoms will develop. Later symptoms of Lyme disease include: •
Arthritis,
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Dizziness,
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Fatigue,
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Shortness of breath,
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Irregular heartbeat,
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Inflammation of the brain and the spinal cord,
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Short term memory loss, etc.
The signs and symptoms of Lyme disease in pregnant women are just the same as in people who are not pregnant. If you have pelvic pain, please go and see a specialist. How will Lyme disease affect the baby? If you are pregnant, you would normally be worried about your own health. You would also be worried about the health of your baby growing inside of you. If a deer tick bites you, it is normal to wonder how the Lyme disease will affect your baby. Luckily, researchers have shown that there is no increased risk to the health of your baby if Lyme disease develops during pregnancy. The bacteria causing Lyme disease is not transmitted from the mother to the baby. Even if a child is born from a mother who had Lyme disease during pregnancy and childbirth, no extra treatment is needed. However, in certain cases, some babies are born with heart defects. This is even
though the real reason and the link between Lyme disease and heart defects are not clearly understood. How to treat Lyme disease during pregnancy? The most important thing when it comes to a deer tick bite is seeing such a bite as soon as possible. The deer tick doesn’t have the chance to transmit the infection to you, preventing this way the development of Lyme disease in the first place. Antibiotics are routinely prescribed in order to avoid serious complications which can occur at a later stage. During pregnancy antibiotics that will not cause any harm to your baby are prescribed, such as amoxicillin.