A complication of Lyme disease isLyme arthritis, caused by the bacterium“Borrelia burgdorferi“which is transmitted through the tick bite .
As Lyme borreliosis is a multisystem disease, which therefore can affect systems, apparatuses and organs (skin, nervous system, eyes, cardiovascular system, joints), symptoms can be varied and refer to the different damage caused by the infection of the bacterium.
In the medical history, recollection of the occurrence of erythema migrans, which is a red, annular eruption at the site of the tick bite, often emerges from people’s accounts.
Rarely untreated cases of Lyme arthritis can progress to central nervous system involvement, but it is important to prevent it from happening by doing prevention.
Although the tick bite carries Lyme disease, not all ticks are found to be infected with the bacterium, so not all cause Borreliosis.
Lyme disease, which begins with the typical sign of erythema migrans, can manifest itself through various symptoms affecting multiple body districts, and does not necessarily result in the onset of Lyme arthritis, which is a complication.
If timely action is taken against the infection by using the antibiotic therapy prescribed in the treatment guidelines, the risk of further development of the infection would be significantly contained.
Usually Lyme arthritis affects joints, large and small, but mainly the knee, causing some tenderness that lingers over time before a definitive recovery.
The pain is caused by joint inflammation, and the frequency of episodes and their duration usually tend to decrease over time while in some cases arthritis may remain present for months.
The main symptoms of the disease include swelling, pain, or even fibromyalgia.
The disease is not contagious, thus not transmissible, nor is it hereditary, being upstream caused by a bacterium.
Normally this disease tends to regress following therapeutic treatment with antibiotics to a complete cure, however, it may occur that the symptoms increase rather than decrease in spite of treatment, due to possible concomitant genetic factors, becoming a chronic disease and subsequently resulting in osteoarthritis, a condition that represents significant joint damage.
