Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that debuts in a person by inflicting symptoms of fever, headaches, fatigue, and more. But if it’s left untreated, Lyme disease can even affect the nervous system, heart, and joints.
Perhaps the worst part is that it’s not difficult at all to get Lyme disease. Laying around in the grass can be enough to bring an “uninvited guest” onboard. That guest is a tick, an apparently harmless parasitic insect that can spread Lyme disease through its bites. Also, it’s obvious that it’s easy to mistake Lyme for some other disease.
Scientists from China estimate that Lyme disease has already affected almost 15% of the world population
After analyzing the blood test samples of over 158,000 people from various parts of the world, researchers from China claim that 14.5% of the entire world population already had to deal with the tick-borne disease, according to a new study published in BMJ Global Health. Most of those infected were supposedly in Europe: 14%. The Americas come second with 9.4%, Asia reaches 7.4%, while the Caribbean has 2%.
According to another source, it’s not difficult to figure out what to do in case a tick bites you. There are arguably 7 simple steps to take. First and foremost, a tick needs to chow down on you for about 36 hours to give you Lyme disease, so don’t be frightened if such an insect has just bitten you! You’ll have to start by removing the pesky tick from your skin, cleaning the wound, taking a good look at the insect, flushing it down the toilet, and ultimately: contacting your doctor and watching out for symptoms.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that the new findings of the researchers from China only represent preliminary results and that more studies on the subject will be initiated.
