Can You Get Lyme Disease From A Mosquito Bite?

Lyme disease is transmitted through a tick bite on the healthy skin of the human being which introduces the inoculum. The tick is infected by sucking blood from the infected human or rodent and the spirochete is able to reproduce in the blood of the vector. Cases of transmission by mosquito bites have not been reported.

Lyme disease is a multisystemic condition with dermatological, rheumatic, neurological and cardiac manifestations.

It was initially described by Dr. Steere, who studied an epidemic of monoarticular arthritis and oligoarticular that occurred in adults and children near Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Seven years after the first reports of the clinical description, it was discovered that Lyme disease is caused by an isolated spirochete of ticks and humans, which was identified as Borrelia burgdorferi in 1982. The infection is transmitted by ticks from the Ixodes ricinus complex.

Lyme disease is the most frequent disease transmitted by arthropods in the United States.

Most of the ticks of the genus Ixodes serve as a competent vector for transmitting B. burgdorferi bacteria. The ticks of the genus Ixodes dammini (scapularis) are located in the west and center of the United States, those of the genus Ixodes pacificus in the Northeast and Pacific of the United States. Ixodes ricinus is the most frequent in Europe and North Africa and the genus Ixodes persulcatus, in Europe. Among the necessary elements to transmit the infection to humans an animal reservoir is included where Borrelia spp. can remain viable for long periods, such as ticks, small rodents, and other small vertebrates.

The life cycle of ticks is two years. Adults lay eggs at the beginning of spring. In the summer the eggs become larvae. Larvae feed on blood from reservoirs such as rats, small mammals, deer, and birds; at the end of summer or early autumn they become nymphs and hibernate until the following spring. Nymphs feed on their reservoirs and occasionally on humans in spring and summer. In autumn they become adults. Adult ticks feed on large mammals, such as white-tailed deer and sometimes also of humans. The adult female ticks abandon these animals and lay eggs on the trees to complete the two-year cycle. The white-tailed deer are carriers of the adult forms of ticks and from them, other mammals, such as mice and hares, can be infested.

10 genospecies of B. burgdorferi have been described; of these, at least three are pathogenic and cause 96% of cases of Lyme disease. Among the pathogenic genospecies is B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, which was isolated in the United States. In Europe and Asia, B. garinii have been found as causal agents and B. afzelii. In addition, in Europe, it has been implicated B. Valaisian.

It goes from the moment the tick bite occurs until the inoculation of Borrelia spp. In 50-90% of patients, after an incubation period of 3 to 32 days, the classic lesion appears at the site of the bite. It is characterized by an erythematous-violaceous, painless plaque that grows in a centrifugal manner while its center clears. It is common to be accompanied by flu-like symptoms.

The onset is variable, the manifestations can present from the first week post-infection until months later and it is common that there are asymptomatic periods. This stage is characterized by systemic involvement; spirochetes spread with the involvement of the skeletal muscle system (60%), skin (20-25%), the central nervous system (CNS) (10%) and heart (5%). The patients present constitutional symptoms: fever, headache, slight neck stiffness, generalized musculoskeletal pain, arthralgias and attack to the general state.

The manifestations of late Lyme disease can be divided into two major groups: manifestations in which persistent Borrelia infection is the cause of the symptoms, as in persistent Lyme arthritis and neuroborreliosis, and manifestations due to other mechanisms, mainly autoimmune phenomena and established and irreversible tissue damage; among the latter are encephalopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy of Lyme, as well as antibiotic-resistant arthritis.

Also Read:

• Lyme Disease: Causes, Symptoms, Staging, Diagnosis, Treatment
• Can Lyme Disease Come Back After Being Treated?
• Can Lyme Disease Test False Negative?
• How Common Is Lyme Disease?
• Is Lyme Disease Contagious From Person To Person?
• What Happens When Lyme Disease Is Left Untreated?
• What Is The Most Accurate Test For Lyme Disease?