Lyme disease spreads in body via blood

NEW YORK, May 2 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers Monday said a five-year study shows the bacteria that cause Lyme disease often spread to distant sites in the body via the blood.

The findings help shed light on why untreated patients often develop complications in areas remote from the tick bite location, researchers from the New York Medical College reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The researchers looked for the presence of the Lyme disease bacteria in the blood of 213 untreated adults who developed erythema migrans, the bull's eye rash that often occurs on the skin around a tick bite site. Blood stream invasion was detected in patients who had the most severe symptoms and who were more likely to have multiple erythema migrans rashes.

Younger patients and those who previously had contracted Lyme disease appeared to have a degree of protection from the disorder.

Antibiotics, such as doxycycline, when initiated early after infection often can prevent long-term complications, such as joint pain, that can arise in untreated individuals.