Doctors warn that you can get tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease at the same time

We live in a very dangerous area

It turns out that, although such cases, when a person suffers from tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease at the same time, they are very rare, but certainly possible.

“During my more than 20 years of practice, I have only seen a few of those patients. But when it comes to such patients, we must distinguish 2-3 categories, “said the professor.

According to the interlocutor, a category in which a person develops tick-borne encephalitis and, at the same time, neuroborellosis is Lyme disease, which is specifically manifested by damage to the nervous system. This means that the nervous system is damaged by both diseases at the same time.

“This situation is extremely rare and I have only seen a few cases during my practice,” said the professor. Dr. A. Mickienė.

– The second case of a person with encephalitis and the first stage of Lyme disease is circular erythema, where there is inflammation of the skin. This combination may occur slightly more frequently than the first category. But still, it’s not a common disease. “

A third category of people with Lyme disease that is already ending could also be distinguished, namely erythema erythematosus and tick-borne encephalitis. The erythema may have already disappeared, and the man didn’t even think it was a sign of Lyme disease.

“We just realized that we were living in a particularly infected area.” There are many ticks throughout Lithuania and many of them are infected. Usually a person is infected with two different diseases from two different ticks. It is extremely rare to get two diseases from one tick. However, it shows that a person can contract both diseases in one season, “said the interlocutor.

However, it is still difficult to say exactly how it happens that a person is visited not by one but by two tick-borne diseases at the same time. After all, an aspirated blood mite may fall off, and the hospital is referred to the symptoms of the disease after a while, when the mites have long disappeared. Therefore, it is impossible to investigate whether she carried both pathogens.

“Since we live in a highly contaminated area, a person can catch more than one tick in a month or even 2 weeks. There are areas where ticks are extremely common and infested. I think there can be both diseases and the same tick, but a lot more often it occurs by different ones, “said the professor.

Currently, there are many patients.

Whether the course of the disease becomes more complicated immediately after contracting both infections depends on the category the patient is in.

“If a patient is of the second category, when a person has tick-borne encephalitis and skin inflammation, it does not add further difficulties to the course of the disease. From Lyme disease, the patient takes antibiotics. And encephalitis transmitted by Ticks are prescribed drips, medications for temperature, headaches. There is no cure for this disease, we only support and supervise this patient so that the condition does not worsen, “said Professor Dr. A. Mickienė.

If the patient is in the first category and has tick-borne encephalitis and neuroborellosis, the course of the disease may be more severe.

“From my practice, I can say that there are more cases of paralysis: face, hands. There is not much data on this in the literature, since such cases are very rare. It was more difficult for some, not others,” said the interlocutor. .

As the professor says, it is too early to talk about trends in tick-borne diseases this season, as the season is just beginning. The greatest number of patients occurs in August, September and even October.

“I think we will see in September-October. But compared to June of last year, we currently have a large number of patients, certainly more than usual. However, we still cannot draw any conclusions, it depends on many factors, the conditions climatic, how many people will go to nature and the like, “said Professor Dr. A. Mickienė.

What is tick-borne encephalitis?

Tick-borne encephalitis is a natural severe focal viral disease caused by the tick-borne encephalitis virus, which damages the brain, its sheaths, or peripheral nerves. EE is one of the most important viral infections of the human central nervous system, characterized by residual phenomena that sometimes lead to disability.

Tick-borne encephalitis can be contracted by ingesting a tick or by consuming raw milk or its products. When the milk is boiled, the infection dies within 2 minutes, when it is exposed to a temperature of 70ºC, in 5 minutes.

Symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis

According to the page of the Center for Communicable Diseases and AIDS (ULAC), the incubation period lasts from 2 to 28 days, with an average of 7 to 14 days. About 80 percent. In cases, the course of the disease is twofold. The symptoms of the first phase of the disease, which lasts from 1 to 8 days, are caused by the first wave of viremia. Its symptoms are nonspecific: fever, bones, muscles, headache, fatigue, general weakness, less frequently dyspeptic or upper respiratory catarrh.

The first stage of EE is followed by an apparent recovery period that lasts from 1 to 33 days, generally 5 to 8 days.

During the second phase of the disease, 20-30 percent develops. In infected individuals, symptoms of damage to the central nervous system and inflammatory changes in the cerebrospinal fluid are identified. About a third of people with tick-borne encephalitis do not fully recover. The most common residual events are the inability to concentrate, sleep disorders, persistent headaches, hypersensitivity, behavioral changes. Less common: paralysis.

A person receives treatment only symptomatically, with drugs that reduce the symptoms of the disease. There is no specific treatment for the pathogen. People who get tick-borne encephalitis gain immunity to the disease.

Vaccines are the most effective preventive measure.

What is Lyme disease?

Lyme disease is a chronic or recurrent transmissible focal infectious disease that affects a variety of organs and systems. Yet another disease is called Lyme borreliosis.

Lyme disease symptoms

The first stage of the disease is characterized by general signs of infection and migratory erythema that occurs at the site of the tick bite, usually 1 to 4 weeks after ingestion, although sometimes the erythema may develop before or only after 2 months. The rash measures more than 5 cm and expands. Erythema forms in 80-90 percent. cases.

In some patients, along with erythema, mild general complaints occur: weakness, headache, joint and muscle pain, and fever. Patients develop lymphadenitis.

The second stage of the disease is a stage of neurological and cardiac disorders that occurs a few weeks or months after the onset of erythema. During this stage, secondary symptoms of skin damage may develop, but the most common neurological disorders are neuritis, radiculonitis of the neck, thorax or lumbar-lumbar region, mononeuritis, signs of encephalitis, or meningitis.

Patients complain of fatigue, sleep disturbances, memory impairment, dizziness, ear pain, etc. Migratory arthralgia, myalgia, and ostalgia often occur. There are short term arthritis attacks. The earliest joint is adjacent to the primary skin lesion.

During the third stage, progressive tissue destruction develops: chronic atrophic acrodermatitis, chronic radiculomyelitis, encephalomyelitis, chronic pain syndrome, muscle weakness, ataxia, memory impairment, damage to the knees, shoulders, elbows, even small joints. Joint pathology in Lyme disease is reminiscent of rheumatoid arthritis. Chronic skin lesions generally start in the distal parts of the extremities, the skin becomes thinner and drier.

Treated with antibiotics. The effectiveness of the treatment depends on the early diagnosis of the disease. Immunity is not acquired in Lyme disease, and a person can contract the disease again. No vaccine