carditis

Cardiomyopathy is the name for diseases of the heart muscle. These diseases enlarge your heart muscle or make it thicker and more rigid than normal. In rare cases, scar tissue replaces the muscle tissue.

Some people live long, healthy lives with cardiomyopathy. Some people don't even realize they have it. In others, however, it can make the heart less able to pump blood through the body. This can cause serious complications, including:

• Heart failure
• Abnormal heart rhythms
• Heart valve problems
• Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA)

Heart attacks, high blood pressure, infections, and other diseases can all cause cardiomyopathy. Some types of cardiomyopathy run in families. In many people, however, the cause is unknown. Treatment might involve medicines, surgery, other medical procedures, and lifestyle changes.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is an illness caused by a virus. This virus is a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. In the United States, there are several vaccines that are effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized, and dying from COVID-19. These vaccines are being used under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This means that the vaccines have met the FDA's scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality that are needed to support authorization.

This page includes details about the vaccines and the vaccination program, including where you can find a vaccine.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The flu, also called influenza, is a respiratory infection caused by viruses. Each year, millions of Americans get sick with the flu. Sometimes it causes mild illness. But it can also be serious or even deadly, especially for people over 65, newborn babies, and people with certain chronic illnesses.

The flu is caused by flu viruses that spread from person to person. When someone with the flu coughs, sneezes, or talks, they spray tiny droplets. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby. Less often, a person may get flu by touching a surface or object that has flu virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes.

Symptoms of the flu come on suddenly and may include:

• Fever or feeling feverish/chills
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Muscle or body aches
• Headaches
• Fatigue (tiredness)

Some people may also have vomiting and diarrhea. This is more common in children.

Sometimes people have trouble figuring out whether they have a cold or the flu. There are differences between them:

Sometimes people say that they have a "flu" when they really have something else. For example, "stomach flu" isn't the flu; it's gastroenteritis.

Some people who get the flu will develop complications. Some of these complications can be serious or even life-threatening. They include:

• Bronchitis
• Ear infection
• Sinus infection
• Pneumonia
• Inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), brain (encephalitis), or muscle tissues (myositis, rhabdomyolysis)

The flu also can make chronic health problems worse. For example, people with asthma may have asthma attacks while they have flu.

Certain people are more likely to have complications from the flu, including:

• Adults 65 and older
• Pregnant women
• Children younger than 5
• People with certain chronic health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, and heart disease

To diagnose the flu, health care providers will first do a medical history and ask about your symptoms. There are several tests for the flu. For the tests, your provider will swipe the inside of your nose or the back of your throat with a swab. Then the swab will be tested for the flu virus.

Some tests are quick and give results in 15-20 minutes. But these tests are not as accurate as other flu tests. These other tests can give you the results in one hour or several hours.

Most people with the flu recover on their own without medical care. People with mild cases of the flu should stay home and avoid contact with others, except to get medical care.

But if you have symptoms of flu and are in a high risk group or are very sick or worried about your illness, contact your health care provider. You might need antiviral medicines to treat your flu. Antiviral medicines can make the illness milder and shorten the time you are sick. They also can prevent serious flu complications. They usually work best when you start taking them within 2 days of getting sick.

The best way to prevent the flu is to get a flu vaccine every year. But it's also important to have good health habits like covering your cough and washing your hands often. This can help stop the spread of germs and prevent the flu.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection you get from the bite of an infected tick. At first, Lyme disease usually causes symptoms such as a rash, fever, headache, and fatigue. But if it is not treated early, the infection can spread to your joints, heart, and nervous system. Prompt treatment can help you recover quickly.

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria. In the United States, this is usually a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. It spreads to humans through the bite of an infected tick. The ticks that spread it are blacklegged ticks (or deer ticks). They are usually found in the:

• Northeast
• Mid-Atlantic
• Upper Midwest
• Pacific coast, especially northern California

These ticks can attach to any part your body. But they are often found in hard-to-see areas such as your groin, armpits, and scalp. Usually the tick must be attached to you for 36 to 48 hours or more to spread the bacterium to you.

Anyone can get a tick bite. But people who spend lots of time outdoors in wooded, grassy areas are at a higher risk. This includes campers, hikers, and people who work in gardens and parks.

Most tick bites happen in the summer months when ticks are most active and people spend more time outdoors. But you can get bitten in the warmer months of early fall, or even late winter if temperatures are unusually high. And if there is a mild winter, ticks may come out earlier than usual.

Early symptoms of Lyme disease start between 3 to 30 days after an infected tick bites you. The symptoms can include:

• A red rash called erythema migrans (EM). Most people with Lyme disease get this rash. It gets bigger over several days and may feel warm. It is usually not painful or itchy. As it starts to get better, parts of it may fade. Sometimes this makes the rash look like a "bull's-eye."
• Fever
• Chills
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Muscle and joint aches
• Swollen lymph nodes

If the infection is not treated, it can spread to your joints, heart, and nervous system. The symptoms may include:

• Severe headaches and neck stiffness
• Additional EM rashes on other areas of your body
• Facial palsy, which is a weakness in your facial muscles. It can cause drooping on one or both sides of your face.
• Arthritis with severe joint pain and swelling, especially in your knees and other large joints
• Pain that comes and goes in your tendons, muscles, joints, and bones
• Heart palpitations, which are feelings that your heart is skipping a beat, fluttering, pounding, or beating too hard or too fast
• An irregular heart beat (Lyme carditis)
• Episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath
• Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord
• Nerve pain
• Shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet

To make a diagnosis, your health care provider will consider:

• Your symptoms
• How likely it is that you were exposed to infected blacklegged ticks
• The possibility that other illnesses may cause similar symptoms
• Results of any lab tests

Most Lyme disease tests check for antibodies made by the body in response to infection. These antibodies can take several weeks to develop. If you are tested right away, it may not show that you have Lyme disease, even if you have it. So you may need to have another test later.

Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics. The earlier you are treated, the better; it gives you the best chance of fully recovering quickly.

After treatment, some patients may still have pain, fatigue, or difficulty thinking that lasts more than 6 months. This is called post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). Researchers don't know why some people have PTLDS. There is no proven treatment for PTLDS; long-term antibiotics have not been shown to help. However, there are ways to help with the symptoms of PTLDS. If you have been treated for Lyme disease and still feel unwell, contact your health care provider about how to manage your symptoms. Most people do get better with time. But it can take several months before you feel all better.

To prevent Lyme disease, you should lower your risk of getting a tick bite:

• Avoid areas where ticks live, such as grassy, brushy, or wooded areas. If you are hiking, walk in the center of the trail to avoid brush and grass.
• Use an insect repellent with DEET
• Treat your clothing and gear with a repellant containing 0.5% permethrin
• Wear light-colored protective clothing, so you can easily see any ticks that get on you
• Wear a long-sleeve shirt and long pants. Also tuck your shirt into your pants and your pant legs into your socks.
• Check yourself, your children, and your pets daily for ticks. Carefully remove any ticks you find.
• Take a shower and wash and dry your clothes at high temperatures after being outdoors

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The pericardium is a membrane, or sac, that surrounds your heart. It holds the heart in place and helps it work properly. Problems with the pericardium include:

• Pericarditis - an inflammation of the sac. It can be from a virus or other infection, a heart attack, heart surgery, other medical conditions, injuries, and certain medicines.
• Pericardial effusion - the buildup of fluid in the sac
• Cardiac tamponade - a serious problem in which buildup of fluid in the sac causes problems with the function of the heart

Symptoms of pericardial problems include chest pain, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing. Fever is a common symptom of acute pericarditis. Your doctor may use a physical exam, imaging tests, and heart tests to make a diagnosis. Treatment depends on the cause.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute