Lyme Disease: Why It's Spreading, How It Makes You Sick, and What to Do about It

Erscheinungsjahr 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4214-1720-2
Verlag: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV PR

Buch, Englisch, 330 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 558 g

Reihe: Johns Hopkins Press Health Book

A world-renowned Lyme disease expert explains everything you need to know if you live, work, or play in areas with the ticks that carry disease.

Once restricted to small forested areas in the northeast and north-central United States, Lyme disease is now a common infection in North America and Europe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that more than 300,000 new cases occur each year in the United States. Misunderstandings over symptoms and treatment increase the public's concerns about the disease—which, if not properly treated, can become chronic and debilitating.

An expert on tick-borne diseases, Alan G. Barbour explains the course of illness that results from infection, diagnosis and treatment options, and steps that can be taken to avoid a tick bite in the first place. The ticks that transmit Lyme disease may also transmit other disease-causing pathogens, and these other infections are considered as well.

Drawing on real case histories of individuals with Lyme disease—or illnesses that may be mistaken for Lyme disease—Barbour explains:

The biology of the spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, that causes Lyme disease
The role of animals such as mice that carry the infection
The life cycle of the ticks that transmit the infection
The importance of deer in perpetuating the cycle
The basics of diagnostic laboratory tests and how test results are interpreted
How antibiotics are used in treating Lyme disease

Infected ticks are abundant in the woods, in walking trails, and in the shrubs and tall grass where suburban lawns meet wooded areas. Barbour stresses preventing disease through community-wide ecology projects and individual and household protection. While it may be difficult to escape infection, understanding the danger, the symptoms, and the treatment goes a long way toward preventing long-term health consequences.

Featuring a list of reliable web sites and a glossary of terms, Lyme Disease is an invaluable resource for everyone who is at risk of the disease or is involved in preventing and treating it.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Barbour, Alan G.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface
Introduction
1. Early Infection and the Immune Response
2. Late Infection and Its Complications
3. The Pathogen, Its Vector, and Its Reservoirs
4. The Ecology of Lyme Disease
5. Approach to Diagnosis
6. Laboratory Tests: The Basics
7. Putting Laboratory Testing in Its Place
8. Antibiotics and Lyme Disease
9. Putting Antibiotics to Use
10. After Antibiotic Therapy Ends
11. Deer Ticks Transmit Other Diseases
12. Preventing Lyme Disease
13. Preventing Lyme Disease
Trusted Internet Sites
Notes
Glossary
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Barbour, Alan G.
Alan G. Barbour, MD, is a professor of medicine and microbiology at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, a co-discoverer of the cause of Lyme disease, and a leading Lyme disease researcher.