TEN FACTS ABOUT LYME DISEASE©

1. Lyme is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in the
U.S., and it’s found in more than 65 countries worldwide.

2. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
(CDC), only 10% of Lyme disease cases meeting the CDC
criteria are reported each year. That means about 230,000
new cases of Lyme meeting that criteria occur each year in
the US. 2007 saw a 38% increase in cases over 2006.

3. Patients with Lyme disease often have co-infections with
Babesia, Anaplasma, Bartonella, or other organisms, clouding
the diagnostic and treatment picture.

4. Lyme disease, the great imitator, can be misdiagnosed as
MS, ALS, lupus, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, autism,
Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.

5. A bite from a tick that’s infected with Lyme disease bacteria
can lead to neurologic, cardiac, arthritic and psychiatric
manifestations in humans.

6. Children 5-14 are at the highest risk of acquiring Lyme
disease; some studies show significant IQ drops in students
with Lyme, reversed after treatment.

7. Lab tests for Lyme disease are not reliable; you can test
negative and still have the disease.

8. Lyme disease can cross the placenta and may possibly cause birth
defects or even death of the fetus.

9. A 2006 published CDC animal study shows that transmission
of Borrelia burgdorferi (the bacterium that causes Lyme)
through blood transfusion in mice is possible.

10. A rash does not always occur with Lyme disease, and
symptoms may occur days or months after a tick bite.

©Lyme Disease Association, Inc.
www.LymeDiseaseAssociation.org
PO Box 1438
Jackson, NJ 08527