Lyme disease cases appear to have more than doubled in the US over the past 30 years. As with so many diseases, though, it can be hard to figure out how much of that increase is because doctors have become better at diagnosing it and patients have become more aware of its symptoms.
Lyme, the most commonly reported tick-borne disease, is named after a town in Connecticut where two women fought ferociously in the 1970s to have their ailments taken seriously by the medical establishment. Due to complex symptoms that can last years after a tick bite, Lyme continues to be an illness doctors can easily miss.
Connecticut is still among states with the highest number of cases (541 in 2021) although it’s far behind New Jersey and New York, which both had more than 3,000. Bites are highly seasonal because ticks are highly seasonal – the little parasites (really little, just 3 to 5mm long) tend to feed off blood in the warmer months. It’s then that ticks will look for their “hosts”, a rather presumptuous description.
Since 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added “probable cases” to the “confirmed cases” in its tally, which has significantly increased the numbers. The public health agency advises that you “avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter” where ticks love to live and that when you get home, you check your body extensively, including the places where ticks often relocate – warm little nooks like your underarms, belly button and the backs of your knees.
