Lyme disease is increasingly being diagnosed in countries including the UK – so what are the symptoms, and how can children avoid catching it? Dr Bernard Raxlen explains

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Children love playing in long grass, rolling down hills and running through parks and fields, making them open to bites from an infected tick, which can result in Lyme disease. However, it is a disease that is difficult to diagnose – on average, it takes patients five to ten visits to various doctors to obtain a proper diagnosis. There is also a real lack of awareness of the profound impact this disease can have if left untreated.

The disease is treatable with antibiotics, but left alone can become a severely debilitating illness that affects multiple organs, including joints, heart, brain and other parts of the central nervous system.

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