Infectious Diseases Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease Symptoms

Summary & Participants

A few days after working on her yard in New York City, Georgina DuBois came down with some scary symptoms.

Medically Reviewed On: August 01, 2008

Webcast Transcript

Georgina, Recovered from Lyme disease : We were actually cleaning it up, getting it ready for the summer.

ANNOUNCER: A few days after working on her yard in new york city, Georgina came down with some scary symptoms.

Georgina, Recovered from Lyme disease : Very weak, very high fever, nauseous, pains in my bones, mainly in the back of my head (edit) the back of my leg was very red, itchy and it's almost like somebody had put an iron on my leg.

ANNOUNCER: Hospital tests turned up negative. No one mentioned Lyme disease until Georgina went to her husband’s internist – Lyme disease specialist doctor Jeffrey Morrison.

Jeffrey A. Morrison, MD, Internist : Lyme disease is normally thought of as a disease that you can pick up in the woods or meadows or walking through paths, but it also can be found even in the cities.

ANNOUNCER: Lyme disease is transmitted by deer ticks. Long associated with the rural areas of the northeast, it has spread to almost all 50 states. It can be hard to diagnose, since the symptoms mimic other illnesses. One of the earliest signs is a rash that can look like a bull’s eye. But not all patients get it and many may miss its significance. Left untreated, the disease can become chronic.

Jeffrey A. Morrison, MD, Internist : Eventually, the Lyme disease will cause major body malfunction. It causes slow degeneration of the body, eventually affecting the central nervous system.

ANNOUNCER: There’s controversy about how to treat chronic or late-stage Lyme disease. But there is one thing everyone agrees on

Jeffrey A. Morrison, MD, Internist : In the early stages, Lyme disease is actually very easy to treat. An acute infection can be treated for six weeks with antibiotics.

ANNOUNCER: Experts also agree that prevention is the best measure against Lyme disease. Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily.