Descriptive Epidemiology (Lyme Disease)

Descriptive Epidemiology (Lyme Disease)
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Introduction
Lyme disease that is a tick-borne infection is among the most common tick infections in the United States and especially in North America (Wormser et al., 2006). Today, Lyme disease is among the most significant public health concerns in the country and despite the increased knowledge of the disease, the incidence and prevalence in the country is continuously increasing (Corapi, White, Phillips, Daltroy, Shadick, & Liang, 2007). In the United States, the Lyme disease causing agents are Borrelia burgdorferi that are transmitted by tick bites of the species Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus. The bacterium is naturally present in the environment and transmission through the tick bite to humans is preventable. The condition is not life-threatening, but possesses neurovascular and musculoskeletal side effects that are significant and may be lifelong (Wormser et al., 2006). The clinical manifestations for the condition involve the joints, skins, nervous system, and the heart with extracutaneous manifestations being less common (Corapi, White, Phillips, Daltroy, Shadick, & Liang, 2007).
Place
In the United States over 95% of Lyme disease cases occur in three distinct regions that are the Northeastern region that spreads from Maryland to Maine, some parts of the upper mid-western regions these are Wisconsin and Minnesota and the north Californian and southern Oregon regions. In regards to place, there are several critical points and these are first, tick habitats that are adequate are often localized even in the endemic areas, the ticks are not dispersed heterogeneously within the geographical areas (Schwartz, 2014). Second, reports of cases of Lyme disease come from approximately every state in the US, and this includes the states where the vector ticks, reservoirs that are infected, or human tissues that are infected have never been identified hence indicating ...