Lyme disease is becoming more common. But its symptoms aren’t always easy to spot

I was eventually diagnosed with Lyme in the US, in September 2023, while visiting my son in Pennsylvania. By this time the rash had expanded from 2-3 cm (0.8 to 1.2in) to a red, rugby ball-shaped blotch covering my entire stomach. A similar rash was also encircling my left knee.

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Fortunately (for me, if not for the locals), Pennsylvania is a hotspot for the disease. In the US alone, around 476,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, mostly from the black legged “deer” tick. Many hikers carry tweezers specifically to pull out any ticks found embedded, face first, on their skin.

After diagnosing me, the physician prescribed a month-long course of the antibiotic doxycycline. The rashes on my stomach and knee faded and disappeared. A general uneasy malaise of feeling “something’s not right”, along with the headaches, tiredness, night sweats and difficulty sleeping, also reduced. Knowing Lyme disease had the potential to cause serious long term health issues, it was a huge relief.

Recently, singers Justin Bieber, Shania Twain and Avril Lavigne, actor Ben Stiller, model Bella Hadid, comedian Amy Schumer and 22-year-old Belgian cyclist Arnaud De Lie have all gone public about contracting Lyme.