Susie Dorsch, 39, of Ashburn, just finished six weeks of intravenous antibiotic treatments to combat Lyme disease. The mother of four continues to suffer from aches, fatigue and a low-grade fever. She’s about to undergo another round of antibiotics.

After recovering from a sinus infection last December, Dorsch began experiencing a “pins and needles” sensation on the left side of her body, in addition to continuous muscle twitches and severe headaches. She was admitted to the hospital because medical personnel thought she’d had a stroke. A CAT scan, MRI and spinal tap showed everything was normal -- as did a blood test for Lyme disease.

When her symptoms did not subside, she was tested again for Lyme. This time it came back positive.

If caught early -- which is difficult to do if you don’t get the common “bulls-eye” rash from the deer tick’s bite -- Lyme disease can be cured with mild antibiotics. But if the infection is asymptomatic, the disease is more difficult to detect and eliminate. Acute, or Chronic Lyme Disease, as it’s called in its later stages, can become quite debilitating.

A female deer tick

Denise Corbo, 42, also of Ashburn, has suffered from Chronic Lyme Disease for the past 6 1/2 years.

For 3 1/2 years -- since she’s been diagnosed -- Corbo, a mother of three and a kindergarten teacher at Mill Run Elementary, has been on five different types of antibiotics and still suffers from fatigue, joint pain and memory lapses. Her Lyme disease was detected after several frustrating years with different doctors and a myriad of tests.

Dr. David Goodfriend, director of the Loudoun County Health Department says there were 215 cases of Lyme disease reported in the county during the last six months of 2007.

To educate residents about Lyme disease, Goodfriend and his staff have developed a comprehensive Web page about ticks and the transmission of the disease. The site states that Loudoun’s rate of Lyme disease is about “20 times greater than that of the Virginia average.”

To avoid infection, which is most commonly transmitted by deer ticks in this area, Goodfriend recommends staying away from tall, grassy areas where ticks live, covering up if going into tick-infested areas (long pants tucked in to socks), using tick repellent and checking for ticks once indoors.

Unfortunately, neither Dorsch nor Corbo remember being bitten by a tick. They had no initial symptoms of the infection until it had spread to its acute phase.

“Lyme Disease has taken my life away,” Corbo said. “I never know how much I’m going to have each day -- some days are good and I have a lot of energy, and some days I’m on my back.”

There are two Lyme disease support groups in Loudoun: one group meets at Sterling Family Practice at 21135 Whitfield Place the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. and the Western Loudoun Lyme Disease Support Group meets at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Purcellville at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month.