{"id":162843,"date":"2024-06-06T12:04:46","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T18:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=162843"},"modified":"2025-09-22T10:41:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:41:41","slug":"lyme-disease-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/","title":{"rendered":"The Long Road to a Lyme Disease Diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cThis has been the most horrendous experience of my life. There\u2019s no other way of explaining it.\u201d These were Alicia\u2019s first words as she set out on the story of the long, tortuous path that led to her Lyme disease diagnosis, <strong>a condition accompanied by several sequelae.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like \u2018Alicia,\u2019 who prefers to remain anonymous, many<strong> people wait months or years for an accurate diagnosis<\/strong>, partly because current tests give both false positive and false negative results, partly because the symptoms are similar to other diseases, and partly because health care professionals tend to turn a deaf ear to patients\u2019 complaints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lyme disease is caused by <strong>being infected with Borrelia bacteria, which are commonly transmitted by tick bites (<em>genus Ixodes)<\/em>. <\/strong>Incidences of Lyme disease have risen dramatically in the United States, where it is estimated that <strong>between 300,000 and 500,000 new cases are diagnosed annually<\/strong>. It is also common in Europe and Canada. Around 15% of the world\u2019s population is estimated to suffer from this disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Enfermedad de Lyme: c\u00f3mo identificarla y qu\u00e9 pasa si no se trata a tiempo\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8ogg6BQRDrA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the Symptoms?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a great variety of symptoms and not everyone experiences the same ones. In the first stage of Lyme disease, three to thirty days after the tick bite, symptoms typically include fever, headache, tiredness, and joint and muscle pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/tag\/tecsalud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TecSalud<\/a> pediatrician and infectious disease specialist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tecsalud.mx\/directorio-medico\/dr-cesar-adrian-martinez-longoria\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">C\u00e9sar Mart\u00ednez Longoria<\/a> told <strong><em>TecScience<\/em><\/strong> that Lyme diagnosis requires \u201cthis set of clinical symptoms and the Erythema migrans rash in the shape of a bull\u2019s eye at the site of the tick bite.\u201d Martinez is referring to a rash in the shape of a bull\u2019s eye which, if present, is an unmistakable symptom of this disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, not everyone who is infected gets it. There are varying estimates of how common this welt is; some estimate that only three out of ten people get it, whereas others estimate eight out of ten. Furthermore, it is a known fact that even if present, only 6% to 20% of these welts are known to have a perfect bull\u2019s eye shape, <strong>which makes the diagnosis confusing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At first, Alicia\u2019s earliest and only symptom was an itchy rash after she came into contact with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5913367\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bird\u2019s nest<\/a> in Mexico City. Over the course of a couple of weeks, she visited several dermatologists, who diagnosed nervous dermatitis caused by stress. Other symptoms appeared four weeks after she got the rash. <strong>\u201cMy temperature dropped, my blood pressure dropped, I could feel my heart pounding, and I started having dizziness.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Living a normal life started becoming difficult, especially because doctors, family members, and colleagues thought it was simply stress or a mental health issue. <strong>\u201cYour world changes because nobody believes you, nobody takes you seriously.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without proper antibiotic treatment during the first month of infection, the disease can become much more serious. \u201cThe infection may shift from the blood to other places, particularly the heart, where it may cause inflammation, or the nervous system, where it may produce meningitis or inflammation of the brain; in other words, <strong>severe neurological or cardiac complications,<\/strong>\u201d explains Martinez. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, welts or rashes may become more common and move to different parts of your body, your muscles may become weak and your heartbeat irregular, pains may occur in your back, hips and legs and there may be numbness in your hands and feet, among other things. If this persists,<strong> the symptoms may become chronic and never disappear <\/strong>which, in turn, causes arthritis, widespread pain, and exhaustion, considerably detracting from your quality of life and often involving long periods of incapacitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Challenge of Diagnosing Lyme Disease<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDiagnosis is very simple for other diseases: you suspect something, do a test, it comes back positive, and that\u2019s it. But it\u2019s not so easy in the case of Lyme disease. To make a diagnosis, <strong>the first thing to look at is the clinical symptoms,<\/strong>\u201d says Mart\u00ednez Longoria. The problem is that the symptoms of Lyme resemble those of many other conditions. \u201cFirst, they could tell you you\u2019re suffering from stress,\u201d says &#8216;Alicia&#8217; from her own experience. \u201cSomething else they bring up is your age; you tell them your knee didn\u2019t hurt last month but now it\u2019s really sore and<strong> they just tell you you\u2019re getting old.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another important piece of information for proper diagnosis is a <strong>tick bite<\/strong>, which most people do not remember, especially if the symptoms do not appear immediately. \u201cOr if you happen to live in an area where ticks are endemic; in other words, a place where ticks transmit the disease,\u201d remarks Martinez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Endemic Lyme disease is not believed to exist in Mexico; in other words, the cases reported are of people who went to another country and got infected there, which \u201cmakes it much less likely to suspect there could have been an infection when making a diagnosis.\u201d However, research indicates that <strong>between 3% and 6% of the population possess antibodies to this bacterium <\/strong>and therefore have or have had the disease, which suggests that not all cases come from abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the event of Lyme being suspected due to symptoms or clinical history, <strong>the next step is to conduct diagnostic tests. <\/strong>Direct tests, such as growing bacteria cultures from blood samples or a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that detects genetic material, have major limitations for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5913367\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Borrelia<\/a> and are rarely used as they produce confusing results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most commonly used diagnostic tests are indirect. These do not detect the presence of Borrelia, but rather antibodies: proteins produced by our own immune system in response to the presence of foreign bodies like bacteria. These antibodies take several days to be produced, <strong>so the test result may be negative<\/strong> during the first four weeks of infection, which are the most important for early treatment. It is estimated that 50-65% of these test results are false negatives; in other words, <strong>more than half of those who test negative for Lyme actually have the disease.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Alicia\u2019s symptoms persisted, she sought the help of other doctors and went to the UNAM Tropical Medicine Center, where she was given an important clue. \u201cThey told me I had an allergy, but they also said that if I was very, very, very, very, very, very, very unlucky, I had Lyme disease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She found an infectious disease specialist who prescribed tests which showed negative for Lyme, but positive for another bacterium, Bartonella, which may cause symptoms very similar to Borrelia. <strong>This diagnosis changed everything.<\/strong> \u201cSuddenly, everyone believes you. I was able to submit the diagnosis to my graduate school and explain to them that I did have something and was impaired. So, I was able to take a temporary leave of absence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8216;Alicia&#8217; was given a three-week course of antibiotics that alleviated her symptoms, but the symptoms returned at the end of the treatment. She went back on antibiotics and took them for eight months until she decided to stop and look for another option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Co-Infections May Also Occur with Lyme<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Ticks that transmit Lyme <strong>are also vectors of a variety of bacteria that cause other diseases. <\/strong>It is estimated that half of the patients suffering from Lyme disease have some kind of co-infection, one of the most common of which is Bartonella. The simultaneous occurrence of several symptoms of other diseases makes it more difficult to make a diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or, as with &#8216;Alicia&#8217;, only one disease may be diagnosed and treated, which makes others like Lyme invisible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat is most worrying about Lyme is <strong>failing to make an accurate diagnosis, taking too long to make it, and not treating the disease properly<\/strong>, which can lead to serious or chronic conditions. The problem of underestimating the disease or confusing it with another and not treating it properly can lead to this,\u201d says Mart\u00ednez Longoria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8216;Alicia&#8217; found a private clinic specializing in Lyme disease in Jalisco. There, her background and symptomatology were analyzed; <strong>she was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease and given appropriate treatment <\/strong>two years after the rash had appeared. \u201cThe diagnosis was like a breath of fresh air, but getting there was a nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alicia\u2019s story is fairly common. According to the U.S. Lyme Disease Association, <strong>the average time taken to diagnose it in the U.S. is two years.<\/strong> This may vary depending on how familiar medical practitioners are with the disease, as medical judgment is one of the most relevant factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Martinez believes that doctors in Mexico are not sufficiently versed in this disease. \u201cI think the main reason people don\u2019t know about Lyme in Mexico is because there are so few cases here. As we are not considered an endemic area, we don\u2019t really know how many there are. This prevents us from having well-defined criteria or studies available for consultation, which makes diagnosis very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alicia\u2019s life <strong>has almost returned to normal since she was treated in Jalisco. <\/strong>Sometimes the symptoms reappear but disappear just as quickly. What does persist is a sense of mistrust, which is why she chose to remain anonymous. \u201cIt has been such a crazy experience, so strange, over such a long time, and so hard to explain. The truth is that you don\u2019t feel like telling anyone afterwards because you think people will judge you or make fun of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Did you find this story interesting? Would you like to publish it? Contact our content editor to learn more at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:marianaleonm@tec.mx\">marianaleonm@tec.mx<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The average time taken to assess this condition is two years due to insufficient knowledge of the topic and confusion over similar symptoms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":162852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[224,144],"class_list":["post-162843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-health","tag-tecsalud"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.0 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Up to Years to Get a Lyme Disease Diagnosis | TecScience<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"this is the story of &#039;Alicia&#039;, a Mexican woman that went through many tests, misdiagnoses and severe symptoms to get finally diagnosed with Lyme disease.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Long Road to a Lyme Disease Diagnosis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"this is the story of &#039;Alicia&#039;, a Mexican woman that went through many tests, misdiagnoses and severe symptoms to get finally diagnosed with Lyme disease.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TecScience\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-06T18:04:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-22T16:41:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/06\/lyme-disease-diagnosis.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alejandra Ortiz-Medrano\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alejandra Ortiz-Medrano\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alejandra Ortiz-Medrano\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7111735e2141461a14b8e7af3deb7727\"},\"headline\":\"The Long Road to a Lyme Disease Diagnosis\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-06T18:04:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-22T16:41:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1586,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Health\",\"TecSalud\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Health\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/\",\"name\":\"Up to Years to Get a Lyme Disease Diagnosis | TecScience\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-06T18:04:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-22T16:41:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"this is the story of 'Alicia', a Mexican woman that went through many tests, misdiagnoses and severe symptoms to get finally diagnosed with Lyme disease.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Lyme disease is caused by being infected with Borrelia bacteria, which are commonly transmitted by tick bites (genus Ixodes). (Photo: Getty Images).\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/health\\\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Long Road to a Lyme Disease Diagnosis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"TecScience\",\"description\":\"-\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"TecScience\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/logo-negro-tecscience.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/logo-negro-tecscience.svg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":38,\"caption\":\"TecScience\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7111735e2141461a14b8e7af3deb7727\",\"name\":\"Alejandra Ortiz-Medrano\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/215361a128b4038cc9ecaba0a356fe96bba3275e68e3541fd4ce57b55e0b70f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/215361a128b4038cc9ecaba0a356fe96bba3275e68e3541fd4ce57b55e0b70f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/215361a128b4038cc9ecaba0a356fe96bba3275e68e3541fd4ce57b55e0b70f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alejandra Ortiz-Medrano\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/author\\\/aortiz\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Up to Years to Get a Lyme Disease Diagnosis | TecScience","description":"this is the story of 'Alicia', a Mexican woman that went through many tests, misdiagnoses and severe symptoms to get finally diagnosed with Lyme disease.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Long Road to a Lyme Disease Diagnosis","og_description":"this is the story of 'Alicia', a Mexican woman that went through many tests, misdiagnoses and severe symptoms to get finally diagnosed with Lyme disease.","og_url":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/","og_site_name":"TecScience","article_published_time":"2024-06-06T18:04:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-22T16:41:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/06\/lyme-disease-diagnosis.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alejandra Ortiz-Medrano","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alejandra Ortiz-Medrano","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/"},"author":{"name":"Alejandra Ortiz-Medrano","@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7111735e2141461a14b8e7af3deb7727"},"headline":"The Long Road to a Lyme Disease Diagnosis","datePublished":"2024-06-06T18:04:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-22T16:41:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/"},"wordCount":1586,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/06\/lyme-disease-diagnosis.jpg","keywords":["Health","TecSalud"],"articleSection":["Health"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/","url":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/","name":"Up to Years to Get a Lyme Disease Diagnosis | TecScience","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/06\/lyme-disease-diagnosis.jpg","datePublished":"2024-06-06T18:04:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-22T16:41:41+00:00","description":"this is the story of 'Alicia', a Mexican woman that went through many tests, misdiagnoses and severe symptoms to get finally diagnosed with Lyme disease.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/06\/lyme-disease-diagnosis.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/06\/lyme-disease-diagnosis.jpg","width":750,"height":500,"caption":"Lyme disease is caused by being infected with Borrelia bacteria, which are commonly transmitted by tick bites (genus Ixodes). (Photo: Getty Images)."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/lyme-disease-diagnosis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Long Road to a Lyme Disease Diagnosis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/","name":"TecScience","description":"-","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/#organization","name":"TecScience","url":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/11\/logo-negro-tecscience.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/11\/logo-negro-tecscience.svg","width":250,"height":38,"caption":"TecScience"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7111735e2141461a14b8e7af3deb7727","name":"Alejandra Ortiz-Medrano","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/215361a128b4038cc9ecaba0a356fe96bba3275e68e3541fd4ce57b55e0b70f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/215361a128b4038cc9ecaba0a356fe96bba3275e68e3541fd4ce57b55e0b70f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/215361a128b4038cc9ecaba0a356fe96bba3275e68e3541fd4ce57b55e0b70f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alejandra Ortiz-Medrano"},"url":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/author\/aortiz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}