Spring and summer travelers are advised to check themselves for ticks if they spend time in heavily forested areas because ticks are known transmitters of Lyme disease. Photo: IC

The recent news that Canadian singer Avril Lavigne is recovering from Lyme disease after having been affected with it for the past five months has drawn attention around the world. In the forthcoming April 13 edition of People magazine, Lavigne tells the story of how to combat this devastating disease.

"I felt like I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk and I couldn't move. I thought I was dying," Lavigne told People magazine.

The article said that last spring when she was taking a trip, Lavigne was bitten by a tick, the transmitter of Lyme disease.

Lyme disease was first diagnosed in Old Lyme, Connecticut in the US in 1975. It is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium and is transmitted to people through tick bites. It is widely spread and can have long-lasting effects, but is rarely fatal.

Huang Xiaojie, a doctor from the infectious diseases department at Beijing You'an Hospital, said people are at a higher risk of getting Lyme disease in the spring and summer. In most cases, people are affected after being bitten by ticks in woody fields, but only about 3 percent of tick bites result in the disease.

According to a 2005 report by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, tick bites are common in provinces like Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It is estimated that every year there will be 20,000 to 30,000 new patients and among them, 10 percent will suffer from a chronic disease, which can last for two to 17 years.

Huang said if it is diagnosed early, patients can be on the road to a quick recovery with treatment. At the initial stage of the infection, typical symptoms are a large, red rash that looks like a bull's eye with a headache, fever, fatigue and chills. If it is not discovered and cured at the initial stage, it could present severe complications, affecting the nervous system, cardiovascular system and motor system.

Lavigne said in People magazine that at first, she "felt feverish" and thought that she had come down with the flu. She also "had complete weakness and fatigue," but doctors said it was due to dehydration and exhaustion from the tour. After several months, doctors confirmed it was Lyme disease. 

After hearing the Lavigne's news, 25-year-old Daisy Kang, a clothing designer in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, thought she was lucky compared with Lavigne.

Kang told Metropolitan that one day when she was in primary school back at her hometown in Gansu Province, her mother caught a tick that bit her on her forehead while she was playing in her backyard.

Afterwards, she felt pain from the wound and a red rash appeared and lasted for several days. Later, it turned into a black dot that looked like a mole. She said it was not painful, but only disappeared after about a year.

"Luckily my mother found the tick before it went deep into the skin, or I would be infected and suffer a lot from it," Kang said.

"The longer the tick is attached to the body, the higher the possibility the bacterium will be transmitted. If it has been less than 24 hours, it is difficult to get infected," Huang said.

"So the most important preventative measure is to pull off the tick as early as possible."

Tips for preventing Lyme disease

1. Wear long shirts and trousers and tuck your trousers into your socks while hiking.

2. Try not to sit or lie in fields, and reduce  time spent in heavily wooded areas. 

3. If you're in a forest or mountainous regions for more than two hours, check your clothes and skin for ticks.

4. If you find a tick, gently shake it to let it fall off naturally or gently pull it off your skin, and disinfect the wound with iodine or alcohol. (Source: Huang Xiaojie, doctor from Beijing You'an Hospital)