<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="42"> Caught early, Lyme is relatively easy to cure with doses of tetracycline, penicillin or other antibiotics.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="43"> The problem, however, is catching it early.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="44"> Ticks are so tiny and their bites often so soft that many victims don't even realize it.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="47"> Even if the disease progresses, later stages are also treatable.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="48"> But the medical regimen is more complex and some symptoms, like the tinnitus in Cohen's ears, may linger.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="50"> Researchers in Minnesota are working on a vaccine, but it is believed to be at least five years away from commercial application.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="68"> However, veterinarians say the disease can produce arthritic and neurological symptoms in dogs, cattle and horses.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="69"> And dogs pose a special problem for humans because they bring ticks into the house.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="75"> Jim Kazmierczak, a Lyme specialist with the Wisconsin health department, predicted that the threat will force a change in habits for campers and outdoorsmen as they learn to use more insect repellent, stick to the center of established forest trails and shun shorts when out in the woods.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="77"> "And conducting tick checks on yourself and your kids after you've been out in an endemic area may become as much a part of the routine of camping as brushing your teeth before you go to bed at night," Kazmierczak said.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="93"> Avoiding contact: When hiking, tuck pants into boots or socks and shirt into pants, and wear light-colored clothing so ticks can be easily seen.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="94"> Use an insect repellent effective against ticks.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="95"> Avoid contact with brush.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="96"> If bitten, pull out tick promptly with tweezers so that mouth parts are removed from skin.</s>

<s docid="LA061389-0087" num="100"> Treatment: Antibiotics during the early stages can cure the infection, but may not always be successful in the later stages.</s>

<s docid="LA071989-0117" num="28"> Antibiotics can successfully treat the disease, although in a few patients permanent joint damage may occur, CDC officials said.</s>

<s docid="LA071989-0117" num="38"> But he suggested that anyone entering a brush-covered area should wear long trousers, not shorts, apply a good insect repellent such as DEET, and after leaving the brush conduct a thorough "tick check".</s>

<s docid="LA092090-0248" num="15"> The disease can usually be treated with antibiotics.</s>

<s docid="LA092090-0248" num="16"> But without treatment, complications such as chronic arthritis, neurological and organ damage can occur.</s>

<s docid="LA112690-0027" num="10"> Antibiotic therapy can often relieve these lingering symptoms, although recovery is seldom complete.</s>

<s docid="LA112690-0027" num="13"> The doctors cautioned that only a few Lyme patients suffer this lingering nerve disorder, and most can be cured with antibiotics given early during their infections.</s>

<s docid="LA111390-0102" num="38"> For example, it is thought that Lyme disease, a debilitating inflammatory joint disorder transmitted by ticks, might also be transmitted through blood, although there have been no confirmed transmissions through donated blood.</s>

<s docid="FT921-2018" num="18"> In the pharmaceutical sector, Pfizer initially moved higher following an analysts meeting where a professor at Yale University said the company's new Zithromax oral antibiotic had potential for use in the treatment of gonorrhea, lyme disease, toxoplasmosis in Aids patients and a range of gastrointestinal infections.</s>

