Helena Pinto
ALL ABOUT LYME
DISEASE
Lyme disease. Lyme disease is a sickness that has
really populated over the last 5-6 years, but the main
country that holds the most carriers of this growing
disease is the U.S. There are an estimated 899
species of ticks in the world, of which over 90 are in
the U.S. In 2015, there were approximately 30,000
cases of Lyme disease reported by state health
departments and the District of Columbia. In the US,
the Diagnosis of Lyme disease has doubled since
1991, about 30,000 people are known to get sick with
the disease each year, but many doctors and people
think the real number of cases is about 10 times that
number due to a lot of unreported carriers or people
who just don't realize they have lyme.
What is Lyme?
Lyme disease comes from a tick. You can get Lyme
when you find a tick embedded in you. What is a
tick? A tick is a small insect (Mostly 3 to 5 mm long)
that sucks on blood. Ticks can be found on humans,
dogs, deer, and many other animals. You can usually
see ticks and brushy areas such as the woods or
anywhere where there are leaves. Ticks are almost
indestructible. They can live under very harsh
circumstances; such as no air for 2 months or more.
You can even freeze a tick and they will come back to
life once unfrozen. Most times you can't even stomp
on a tick; they are so small that they will find room
in a creese of your shoe to fit in. One of the ways you
can make sure they are dead is by removing the head
(The part that ingests blood).