Report on Fox TV News
The prevailing scientific view is that Lyme disease is spread to human beings only through the bites of certain species of ticks.
But sometimes Lyme strikes multiple members of the same family -- the parents and the children. Some of those families believe that the bacterium that causes the debilitating symptoms of Lyme can also be spread through sexual contact. Others believe Lyme disease can be transmitted to children during a mother's pregnancy.
Lyme disease infections of humans are a big problem, and it's growing bigger. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bacteria carried in some species of small ticks is now spreading Lyme disease to an estimated 300,000 new patients a year in the United States.
For some of those patients, the effects of Lyme disease are devastating. Caitlin Carlson lives with her family in Gilberts, Ill.
"My body just gets so tired and ill, and you just feel sick," the teenager told us. "And you can't explain it. Some days you just want to lay up in bed and do nothing because I feel so sick. And I'm 18, and I should not feel like that."
Caitlin Carlson believes her case of Lyme disease was passed on to her at birth from her mother, who has also been diagnosed with Lyme disease. Her father has also been diagnosed with the illness.
Read the rest of the story and watch the video:
http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/25646147/can-lyme-disease-be-spread-through-sex
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