{"id":461,"date":"2023-04-18T14:58:23","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T14:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arsbiomedica.com\/new23\/?page_id=461"},"modified":"2025-04-14T18:24:37","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T18:24:37","slug":"lyme-disease","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/arsbiomedica.com\/en\/de-ziekte-van-lyme\/","title":{"rendered":"Lyme disease"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Each year, approximately 1.5 million people contract a tick bite. Of these, 27,000 people develop Lyme disease, of which 1,000 to 1,500 people experience long-term symptoms. However, it is suspected that the number is much higher, as many do not know they are infected and believe they have a different ailment. (As of early 2023, these are the latest figures from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment<\/a>).<\/p>\n

What is Lyme disease?<\/h2>\n

Lyme disease is caused by, among other things, the bacterium Borrelia. burgdorferi.<\/a> Lyme disease can be contracted through the bite of an infected tick. The tick becomes infected with Borrelia when it feeds on small (rodent) animals or birds that carry the Borrelia bacterium. When a tick later feeds on humans, the Borrelia bacterium can be transmitted to the person. Approximately 1 in 5 ticks carries the bacterium.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, in our practice we are also seeing more and more people who are presumably infected with the Borrelia bacteria through a mosquito bite.<\/p>\n

Symptoms of Lyme disease<\/h2>\n

The disease presentation of Lyme disease is not straightforward, not everyone experiences the same symptoms. This has to do with the co-infections present. In addition to Lyme disease, other diseases, co-infections of Lyme, are transmitted by ticks. Other viruses in your body can also be activated by the Borrelia bacterium. The most common co-infections are Babesia, Bartonella, Mycoplasma, Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Epstein Barr, etc. In our practice, we see many patients with Lyme disease who have very varied symptoms:<\/p>\n