The Many Faces of Lyme Disease

Abstract

In 1975, many children and adults in Lyme, a coastal town in Connecticut, USA, and the surrounding areas were suffering from severe joint pain. The doctors did not know what caused this mysterious disease, but they knew that the affected children had one thing in common: they had been bitten by ticks! Several years later, scientists discovered that these ticks carried tiny bacteria inside of them. The bacteria were named Borrelia burgdorferi, and they were the reason why those children and adults fell ill. Borrelia are very small and have a long, corkscrew shape. They can only be observed under a special microscope. Moreover, they can do harm to many different parts of the body. How can such tiny microbes damage the human body, and what can we do to protect ourselves against them? Keep reading to learn more!