The First At-Home Test for Infected Ticks Could Improve Lyme Disease Diagnosis
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LymeAlert will hit the market in August. The latest tool against the tick-borne illness could become a medicine cabinet staple
Research shows that more than 31 million Americans —or nearly one in ten people—experience a tick bite every year. While some tick bites can be harmless, these parasitic arachnids that feed on both animals and people can transmit dozens of diseases in as little as 36 to 48 hours, including anaplasmosis , babesiosis , Rocky Mountain spotted fever , alpha-gal syndrome and Lyme disease .
This spring, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a spike in tick-borne-illness-related emergency room visits, with Lyme disease being the most common diagnosis. An estimated 476,000 patients are treated each year for Lyme disease, concentrated in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Upper Midwest, thanks to the prevalence of its carrier: blacklegged ticks.
Erin Dawicki is no stranger to the increase in tick-borne illnesses, especially in New England where she resides. For the past few years, the pediatric physician associate in Boston has experienced a steady uptick in kids showing up in her office with “huge swollen joints and zero trauma,” she says—symptoms that signal Lyme arthritis , a condition that develops anywhere from one to a few months after an untreated tick bite.
Lyme disease is easiest to treat during its early, or acute, stage, which makes quick tick identification critical for treatment. Most experience a “bull’s-eye” rash at the site of the bite, along with other symptoms, including fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, swollen lymph nodes, and neck stiffness. While the most common treatment is a 10- to 14-day course of antibiotics, the CDC also recommends a single 200-milligram dose of doxycycline within a 72-hour prophylactic window, if the tick had been attached for 36 hours, in areas where Lyme disease reports are high.
Unfortunately, even treated, some people experience post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, previously known as “chronic Lyme disease.” This diagnosis comes with persistent fatigue, musculoskeletal pain or cognitive difficulties months after completing the appropriate antibiotic treatment. According to the CDC , time, and not additional antibiotics, is needed to overcome the syndrome.