Lyme Disease and MRSA: Description, Diagnosis, and Treatment
This paper provides a comprehensive overview of two significant infectious diseases: Lyme disease and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). For each condition, the paper examines the etiology and description, clinical diagnosis, treatment options, prognosis, epidemiology, and prevention strategies. Lyme disease, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted via blacklegged ticks, is discussed across its three clinical stages, with attention to antibiotic treatment and geographic prevalence in the United States. MRSA, a bacterium resistant to many common antibiotics, is explored in terms of its hospital-acquired and community-associated forms, treatment challenges, and infection control measures. Together, these discussions underscore the public health significance of both diseases.
- Introduction: Scope of paper: Lyme disease and MRSA
- Lyme Disease: Description, Etiology, and Diagnosis: Tick-borne cause, three clinical disease stages
- Lyme Disease: Treatment, Prognosis, and Epidemiology: Antibiotic treatment, outcomes, and U.S. prevalence
- Lyme Disease Prevention: Tick exposure reduction and protective measures
- MRSA: Description, Etiology, and Diagnosis: Antibiotic-resistant bacterium, hospital and community strains
- MRSA: Treatment, Prognosis, and Epidemiology: Vancomycin use, outcomes, and global prevalence trends
- MRSA Prevention: Hygiene practices and infection control strategies
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper maintains a consistent parallel structure for both diseases — covering description, etiology, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, epidemiology, and prevention in the same order — which makes the comparison easy to follow.
- Clinical details are well-integrated with authoritative sources (CDC, NIAID, peer-reviewed journals), lending credibility to the factual claims.
- The three-stage framework for Lyme disease diagnosis is clearly explained, grounding abstract clinical terminology in concrete symptom progressions that a general reader can understand.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of parallel comparative structure in a health sciences context. By applying the same analytical framework to two distinct infectious diseases, the author makes implicit comparisons — such as the contrast between Lyme disease's antibiotic susceptibility and MRSA's antibiotic resistance — without needing to state them explicitly. This structural mirroring is a useful technique in informational and clinical writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper is divided into two main sections, one for each disease. Each section follows a consistent six-part internal structure: description/etiology, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, epidemiology, and prevention. This predictable organization allows readers to locate specific information quickly and supports clear, topic-by-topic comprehension. A brief introduction frames the scope, and in-text citations from CDC, NIAID, and peer-reviewed sources are integrated throughout.
Introduction
This paper examines two significant infectious diseases: Lyme disease and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). For each condition, it provides a description and epidemiology, as well as etiology, prevention strategies, diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis.
Lyme Disease: Description, Etiology, and Diagnosis
Described as an often debilitating illness, Lyme disease, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2018) points out, "is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks." It is important to note that in addition to Borrelia burgdorferi, blacklegged ticks are capable of transmitting what are commonly referred to as coinfections — that is, a variety of other disease-causing parasites, as well as viruses and bacteria. Those living in wooded areas have a high likelihood of contracting Lyme disease, as do persons whose domestic animals frequent wooded areas.
CDC (2018) points out that Lyme disease is diagnosed on the basis of "symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks." According to Murray and Shapiro (2010), the disease's clinical manifestations are grouped into three stages:
(a) Early localized disease
(b) Early disseminated disease
(c) Late disease
During early localized disease, which typically occurs 7 to 14 days after an individual is bitten by a tick, the person may develop a rash (erythema migrans) usually located at the tick bite site (Murray and Shapiro, 2010). The rash often disappears within approximately one month. The second stage — early disseminated disease — is occasioned by the spread of bacteria and can present a number of flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, fatigue, and enlarged lymph nodes. According to Murray and Shapiro (2010), an individual may also present with multiple erythema migrans lesions and other manifestations such as carditis and meningitis. The third and final stage, late disease, develops after failure to treat the infection during the first two stages and may therefore take a long time to appear. Clinical manifestations at this stage include encephalitis and arthritis, as well as limb numbness, short-term memory loss, and severe headaches (Murray and Shapiro, 2010).
Lyme Disease: Treatment, Prognosis, and Epidemiology
According to CDC (2018), antibiotics are in most cases effective in the treatment of Lyme disease. "Patients typically take doxycycline for 10 days to 3 weeks, or amoxicillin and cefuroxime for 2 to 3 weeks" (WebMD, 2018). Based on clinical manifestations, treatment may be administered orally or intravenously. For instance, during the early localized stage — when the patient presents with erythema migrans — antibiotics may be administered orally, while during stage 3, when a patient presents with encephalitis, intravenous administration is adopted (Murray and Shapiro, 2010).
Antibiotics are quite successful in treating Lyme disease, particularly when the disease is diagnosed early, during the first two stages. Fatalities are rare. It is important to note, however, that even after antibiotic treatment, some patients may not show improvement. According to Aucott (as cited in WebMD, 2018), "ten percent of people don't get better after antibiotics," and in such cases there are no other viable treatment options (WebMD, 2018). Reinfection can also occur even after successful treatment, underscoring the importance of ongoing prevention efforts.
Lyme disease is regarded as Europe and North America's most prevalent tick-borne infection (Domino, Baldor, Golding, and Stephens, 2017). The specific species of Ixodes ticks that transmit the etiologic agent to humans "are found widely in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere" (Mead, 2015, p. 187). In the United States, approximately 95% of Lyme disease cases in 2016 were reported across fourteen states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin (CDC, as cited in WebMD, 2018). New Jersey and Pennsylvania were the most heavily affected among these states. According to the CDC (as cited in WebMD, 2018), the U.S. experiences approximately 300,000 Lyme disease cases per year. The rate of infection is expected to continue increasing, as the blacklegged tick appears to be expanding its range toward "the southern and western U.S. and into Canada," effectively meaning "that the number of Lyme disease cases in North America will climb" (WebMD, 2018).
MRSA: Description, Etiology, and Diagnosis
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an infection-causing bacterium that can "cause a variety of problems ranging from skin infections and sepsis to pneumonia to bloodstream infections" (CDC, 2016). Its treatment is challenging because, as the name suggests, it is resistant to a wide range of antibiotics. It is the mutation of the penicillin-binding protein that, as Siddiqui and Whitten (2018) observe, brings about S. aureus methicillin resistance. As the authors further note, "this type of resistance is transferred between S. aureus organisms by bacteriophages" (Siddiqui and Whitten, 2018).
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, 2009) points out that MRSA remains one of the most common hospital-acquired infections. This is partly attributable to MRSA's contagious nature and the bacterium's ability to survive for extended periods on various surfaces, including fabric, taps, door handles, sinks, and floors. In recent times, MRSA strains have been observed with greater frequency in community settings (NIAID, 2009). In the past, as Boswihi and Udo (2018) note, elderly patients in healthcare settings were almost exclusively prone to MRSA-caused infections. Over time, however, "the emergence of strains in patients with no previous history of hospitalization — known as community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA)" — was documented (Boswihi and Udo, 2018). Skin-to-skin contact remains a primary avenue through which staph germs spread.
Staph can be found on the skin of healthy individuals and, in most instances, does not cause any infections or adverse symptoms. When the skin is broken, however, staph may gain entry, causing swelling, redness, and pus in the affected area (Domino, Baldor, Golding, and Stephens, 2007). MRSA infections can also occur at surgical sites, in organs, or in the bloodstream. In severe cases, patients may experience headaches, chills and fevers, fatigue, and chest discomfort (NIAID, 2009). To determine whether an individual has an MRSA infection, a sample of sputum, pus, or blood is collected and assessed for the presence of the bacterium.
References
Beltz, L.A. (2011). Emerging Infectious Diseases: A Guide to Diseases, Causative Agents, and Surveillance. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.
Boswihi, S.S. & Udo, E.E. (2018). Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus: An Update on the Epidemiology, Treatment Options and Infection Control. Current Medicine and Practice, 8(1), 18–24.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2018). Lyme Disease. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2016). Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). Retrieved from
Domino, F.J., Baldor, R.A., Golding, J. & Stephens, M.B. (Eds.). (2017). The 5-Minute Clinical Consult (26th ed.). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health.
Mead, P.S. (2015). Epidemiology of Lyme Disease. Infect Dis Clin North Am, 29(2), 187–210.
Murray, T.S. & Shapiro, E.D. (2010). Lyme Disease. Clin Lab Med, 30(1), 311–328.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). (2009). Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). Retrieved from https://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/mrsa-treatment
Siddiqui, A.H. & Whitten, R.A. (2018). Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482221/
WebMD. (2018). Lyme Disease: What To Know in 2018. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/arthritis-lyme-disease#3-6
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