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 the diagnostic difficulties. Since 1989, about 75% of Lyme disease cases have been reported in only four states that are Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey and only within certain counties in these states (Schwartz, 2014).
Since 1993, over 12,500 cases of Lyme disease have been annually reported in the US and since 1982 when the national surveillance began, the annual reported cases have increased 25-fold with the cumulative number currently exceeding 128,000 people. The national incidence of the reported cases currently stands at approximately 5 per 100,000 and in, for example, 1998 16,801 cases were reported (Schwartz, 2014). Approximately 27% of these cases were from New York, 17% from Pennsylvania, 20% from Connecticut, 5% from Rhode Island, 11% from New Jersey, and Maryland, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin reporting 4% each (Schwartz, 2014). The greatest incidence among these was in Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Wisconsin respectively. However, these reports are suspected to be underestimated and hence false reflection of the true burden of the disease (Schwartz, 2014).
Person
Any individual that is exposed to ticks is at the risk of contracting Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. Naturally, individuals that go out on a regular basis in areas that are prone to ticks are at even higher than average risk of becoming infected. Children aged between 0 – 14 years are at increased risk of contracting Lyme disease with the highest incidence occurring among children aged...