Lyme Disease and Barcelona

[lazygal]

I do not want to cause alarm, that is certainly not my intention. We had our trip of a lifetime, dream cruise in Sept. I came down with a severe upper respiratory illness after four days into our cruise, and I found out several people suffered the same fate (that seems to continue on that ship).... My otherwise VERY HEALTHY husband came down with an unexplained illness after the trip and has been in severe distress for six months.

 

After several tests, including a cancer scare and several biopsies, it has come down to Lyme disease, being traced to Barcelona. We cannot for the life of us think of how this was contracted in Barcelona. We spent 4 days there pre-cruise and I continue to tout it as my favorite city in the world. We visited Park Guell - the entire park (meaning upper area with many trees) and also explored many parks.

 

The only reason I am posting this is to help anyone who may have visited the area and is also plagued by unexplained, debilitating joint pain, pain to the extent of not being able to move. Lyme disease is rare to diagnose, but a simple blood test is all it takes. We live in Florida, so the Doctors never considered it, until we brought up our travel history.

 

I would not hesitate to go back to Barcelona. I LOVED it. But my husband is deathly ill and I only want to caution people who may be suffering from an unexplained illness.

[aquilegia]

I note that you say you visited several parks, so you may well have your answer there. Lyme disease is spread by ticks, which live on animals, although I must stress that only some ticks are carriers. You do not have to be in contact with the actual animals the ticks live on (eg deer), as the ticks fall off into the grass. I was apparently bitten by an infected tick a couple of years ago, not far from my home. I was very feverish for a couple of days, (I thought I had flu) then afterwards noticed a circular patch of redness spreading from what looked like an insect bite. It's often called a 'bulls eye rash' because it usually (though not always) has an inner pale circle. I went to my doctor, who put me on antibiotics, which is the standard treatment to nip it in the bud. I also had a blood test six months later just to check that I did not have the disease and fortunately it was clear. I know that if it is not caught straight away it can turn into a very nasty illness, with severe joint pains. My sympathies go out to your husband and I hope that now you have the diagnosis, he can be successfully treated.

[lazygal]

Thank you for your kind response. Yes, since I had the upper respiratory illness, he thought he had caught that and had flu like symptoms. Antibiotics, steroids have been the only relief. Now we have a definitive diagnosis and can start proper treatment.

[gosport11]

Lymes is also spread by rat urine,not nice i know so any where rats run it can be picked up,when i worked in how can i say tunnels, we were taught if we got flu to tell the docs to test for it . in this case its hand to mouth :(

[aquilegia]

Lymes is also spread by rat urine,not nice i know so any where rats run it can be picked up,when i worked in how can i say tunnels, we were taught if we got flu to tell the docs to test for it . in this case its hand to mouth :(

 

I think you are confusing Lyme Disease with Weil's Disease, which is indeed spread by rat urine and is a form of leptospirosis. They are both extremely nasty anyway.

[RollieUK]

You say the source of the disease was traced to Barcelona. How can they be sure of that?

[campolady]

You say the source of the disease was traced to Barcelona. How can they be sure of that?

 

I wondered how you could be so exact about that too.

Edited March 12, 2014 by campolady

[4774Papa]

I did not realize that Lyme disease was a problem outside North America. Apparently, it is

 

http://www.lymebook.com/africa-europe-canada-sweden-england-uk-united-kingdom

 

We lived in Southern Maryland for 8 years, where Lyme disease is a serious problem. I had neighbors that picked it up working in their yards. They all were lucky to have it treated early, before it did damage to their body.

 

I always use insect repellant when I work in the yard or bike (live in coastal Georgia now).

Now, I wonder if I need to take insect repellant on cruises?

[lazygal]

You say the source of the disease was traced to Barcelona. How can they be sure of that?

 

Apparently from the timeline of our travels, proximity to non-urban areas and tracking information of others infected with the disease from the CDC.

[gosport11]

I think you are confusing Lyme Disease with Weil's Disease, which is indeed spread by rat urine and is a form of leptospirosis. They are both extremely nasty anyway.

I read my training notes and yes i was confusing the two sorry:o:o

[UKBayern]

When I do a search on the internet in several languages, Barcelona does not come up in any topic about ticks, borreliosis or lyme, nor does it flag up as a potential lyme area. Incubation time can be anything from 3 to 30 days, with exceptions as far out as 1,5 years. You could have picked it up anywhere anytime before. It seems highly unlikely to contract this disease in an urban environment. We have thick lush forests, wild animals and cattle here, so we have ticks, and thus we are very aware of the disease.

[aquilegia]

When I do a search on the internet in several languages, Barcelona does not come up in any topic about ticks

 

Well, I don't know how you do your searches, but I just put 'Barcelona' and 'ticks' into the Google search box and this site came up on the first Google page of results:

 

http://barcelona.angloinfo.com/af/243/barcelona-dogs-cats-pets-and-animals.html

 

Read the paragraph headed 'Pet Threats and Animal Dangers in Spain'. It names ticks as a threat to pets in Barcelona.

 

If you look at my post in reply to the OP, you will see that I was bitten by an infected tick in the UK. This was not in a thick, lush forest, it was on a 9 hole golf course in the small town where I live. These days all sorts of animals venture in urban areas, deers, foxes etc, because of the pressure on their habitats due to house building etc. I am perfectly prepared to believe the OP (and her medical advisers) when she claims the disease was contracted in Barcelona.

Edited March 15, 2014 by aquilegia

[Loonbeam]

Lyme disease is an issue in every temperate area, the only question is severity. Barcelona is not a high risk area, but because of the popularity of some parks and the relative high population density it poses some minor threat. As more general advice, if you suffer any of the above symptoms for more than a normal period of time, your doctor should conduct a lyme test.

 

There is no way to know for sure if the OP was infected in Barcelona, but it is certainly not out of the realm of the possible.

[winter fun]

I do not want to cause alarm, that is certainly not my intention. We had our trip of a lifetime, dream cruise in Sept. I came down with a severe upper respiratory illness after four days into our cruise, and I found out several people suffered the same fate (that seems to continue on that ship).... My otherwise VERY HEALTHY husband came down with an unexplained illness after the trip and has been in severe distress for six months.

 

After several tests, including a cancer scare and several biopsies, it has come down to Lyme disease, being traced to Barcelona. We cannot for the life of us think of how this was contracted in Barcelona. We spent 4 days there pre-cruise and I continue to tout it as my favorite city in the world. We visited Park Guell - the entire park (meaning upper area with many trees) and also explored many parks.

 

The only reason I am posting this is to help anyone who may have visited the area and is also plagued by unexplained, debilitating joint pain, pain to the extent of not being able to move. Lyme disease is rare to diagnose, but a simple blood test is all it takes. We live in Florida, so the Doctors never considered it, until we brought up our travel history.

 

I would not hesitate to go back to Barcelona. I LOVED it. But my husband is deathly ill and I only want to caution people who may be suffering from an unexplained illness.

 

Wondering how your husband is doing?? Is he recovered??