You Can’t Afford to Miss the Signs of Tick-Borne Disease—and You May Be Seeing a Lot of It

It’s high season for tick bites and related diseases. As an article just published by Patient Care reminds us, there’s far too much misinformation leading the public (and probably some clinicians) to fail to recognize the signs and dangers of Lyme disease. For example, patients ultimately diagnosed with Lyme disease do not always have the telltale “bullseye” rash. Further, in spite of its Connecticut-based moniker, its spread is not limited to the East Coast. And in spite of the fact that nearly half a million Americans are likely to be diagnosed this year alone, Lyme isn’t the only tick-related diagnosis to worry about. If you’re not as familiar with others, or the right tests to help you uncover the true source of the patient’s complaints, you could miss an essential diagnosis. An article in the JUCM archive, Urgent Care Diagnosis and Management of Tick-Borne Diseases, could help you avoid that unfortunate possibility.