3 Factors That Cause You Are at Risk for Lyme Disease

Healthy Living - Flea bites not only make the skin rash and itch. Certain types of lice can cause lyme disease (lyme disease). This flea bite will cause a rash accompanied by symptoms, such as muscle aches, body fatigue, headaches, and stiff neck. Even though it is rare in Indonesia, you are still at risk for this disease. Here are some of the factors that make you at risk for lyme disease.

A glimpse of Lyme disease

Lyme disease occurs when the Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii bacteria enter the body through tick bites. After being bitten, within 3 to 30 days, the symptoms of lyme disease will appear.

Without treatment, the rash can appear in other areas and cause severe joint pain within a few months. In fact, in some cases, Lyme disease is also a cause of disturbances in muscle movement, facial paralysis, and weakness in the limbs.

Fatal, infections can spread to the brain causing meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain) and disrupting the heart rhythm.

Causes that make you risk getting lyme disease
Reporting from the Health Line page, most cases of lyme are reported to often occur from May to August. In order to avoid the spread of lyme infection, health experts encourage people to increase awareness of preventive measures.

There are several causes that make a person at risk for lyme disease. Sometimes, they don't realize that what they do can cause lyme disease, including:

1. Often playing in grassy areas

"Basically, many lice that carry infections that cause Lyme are found in high grasses," Dr. Amy Edwards, chair of infection control at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.

These fleas prefer to stay in damp places and away from sun exposure. The lice will be easier to find on the lower surface of a more dense leaf.

That's why playing or camping in an area with a lot of tall grass can make you risk getting bitten by the lice that causes lyme disease. Lice that live in this grass can stick to the skin, then move to warmer areas, such as the groin, armpits, and scalp.

One way to reduce the risk, avoid your little one playing in the bush. In addition, it would be better to camp in a wider area without bushes around it.

2. Not knowing the type of lice that causes lyme disease

Do not know what kind of lice cause lyme disease, making someone at risk for this disease.

Why? When you go to the park or garden, you might find various kinds of insects, including fleas and let them stick to the skin.

Lice that cause lyme disease are not the same as lice. There are two types of fleas that cause lyme infections, namely black fleas (Ixodes scapularis) and blacklegged fleas (Ixodes pacificus).

These fleas have a variety of sizes, namely 2 mm in size called nymphs and about the size of sesame seeds with orange bodies.

Lice that cause lyme disease cannot fly or jump so how to move to your skin through touch. This can happen when you hold a leaf or sit between leaf bushes. If you see these fleas sticking to the skin, you may immediately expel them.

3. Sleep with pets

Besides living in thick, damp bushes, these fleas can also move through furry pets, such as dogs and cats. One of them is by sleeping together with the pet.

Sleeping together with these furry animals, can be one of the factors that you are at risk of developing lyme disease. Lice that may be present in pets can move when you sleep together.

To prevent this, you must maintain the cleanliness of your pet by regularly bathing it.

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