BRATTLEBORO—Spring is finally here. We can emerge from our houses, go for hikes, take walks, and stroll around in the woods.

But we should avoid getting bitten by a deer tick.

Deer ticks (Ixodes scapularis) live everywhere in the country, including here in Windham County. many deer ticks now carry Lyme disease, as well as four other bacterial infections: Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis.

Lyme disease is caused by the spirochete (spiral-shaped bacteria) borrelia burgdorferi, which is similar to the syphilis organism.

This disease is becoming known as the “Great Imitator,” because its symptoms mimic those of many other illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and other non-specific musculoskeletal and neurological diseases.

Half the people infected with Lyme disease get a characteristic bullseye rash (Erythema Migrans, or EM). Some of the other most common signs and symptoms of an acute infection with Lyme disease include headache, muscle aches and pain, heart palpitations, stiff neck, and joint pain (usually one-sided and in a large joint, like a knee of hip).

However, the list is much longer, and often overlaps with the symptoms that one might have with a cold or flu. This is where the tragic problem of chronic Lyme disease begins, when the infection is overlooked and dismissed.

Lyme disease, and especially the notion of “chronic Lyme disease” is an area of contention among many doctors. This debate is driven by a number of factors, including science, politics, and the insurance industry.

The controversy becomes very heated and emotional for people, especially those who are struggling with their health and who suspect Lyme disease as the cause of their illness.

Over the past decade, two opposing camps have emerged in the battle. one camp is represented by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), led by a group of academic researchers. This group maintains that Lyme disease is “hard to catch and easy to halt” (according to an oft-quoted New York Times story on the research) because the infection is “rare,” easily diagnosed, and treated with two to four weeks of antibiotics. This group also claims that chronic Lyme disease is rare or nonexistent.

This group of researchers has written the guidelines that most physicians refer to when treating Lyme disease. but here’s the catch: The IDSA guidelines’ authors have significant conflicts of interest that have biased their treatment and diagnostic recommendations, including: