Lyme disease symptoms in children

Boys between the age of 5 and 14 are mostly affected by Lyme disease.

This result can be deducted from the table below. This graphic shows the results of large research done by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA. 50% of the children who were part of this research couldn’t remember if they were bitten by a tick.

Children have a high chance of getting Lyme disease. They can be found outside a lot, they often don’t notice being bitten by a tick, and to make the right diagnosis is difficult in the case of children. The latter is caused by multiple reasons. For instance, children don’t always look ill, they are often not aware of the fact that they have regular headaches and tinnitus, and they don’t usually pay attention to pain or paralyzed feeling. Because of this, it is more likely that Lyme disease is not identified in time with serious, long term complaints as a result.

Prevention is better than cure. Checking children after they have been outside should be part of the routine. The number of tick bites still increases. In case of different, general symptoms and when it is likely that a child has been bitten by a tick, it is wise to go to a general practitioner. Next, the general practitioner can decide to request the extended package of Lyme tests.