A study presented in 2014 by The Journal of Investigative Medicine suggests that Lyme disease can be transmitted sexually.

This is a new development in Lyme disease research as it was previous thought that Lyme disease, a.k.a. Bannwarth syndrome, was only caught directly from the source-- a bite from a tick who was carrying the disease. A tick would have to bite a deer or a mouse who was carrying the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, and would then have to bite a human in order to pass this bacteria along.

Lyme disease is a corkscrew shaped bacteria, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the bacteria that causes syphilis. Both are in the spirochete family and have tails located inside of their bodies, which is how they propel themselves.

Symptoms of Lyme disease (directly after transmission in Stage 1) include: a bullseye-like mark at the site of the bite, a stiff neck, chills, ever, headache, and joint and muscle pain. Infection occurs within 24 hours of the initial bite and treatment should be sought out immediately.

Lyme disease is a very serious condition which poses the following health risks if left untreated by antibiotics (Stage 2 and Stage 3): numbness, nerve pain, cognitive issues, tingling, muscle weakness, trouble with speech and paralysis.

The study compared infected patients and non-infected patients against a control group. No member of the control group tested positive for Lyme disease following the trial. Participants who had Lyme disease prior to the study had samples drawn to determine the exact type of Lyme spirochete they were carrying.

Couples who had one partner with Lyme and one without prior to the study had their vaginal secretions and semen tested and recorded before the study began. Then, they were tested after unprotected sexual intercourse. After sexual contact, the scientists found the same strain of Lyme in both partners-- the previously uninfected partner and the infected partner. This suggests that this bacteria is passed along through the transmission of bodily fluids during sex.

This breakthrough explains the mystery of how so many new Lyme patients there are every year, despite a lack of evidence involving tick bites in so many cases. The CDC announced that over 300,000 new cases are diagnosed and reported every year in the states, which has been a puzzlingly large number until now.

Evidence suggests that women are more susceptible to men to catching Lyme disease through sex. Vaginal secretions were twice as likely to test positive for Lyme after unprotected sex than semen was. Just one more reasons for the ladies to ask their partner to use a condom.

If you or your partner has Lyme, or you are single and you are unsure if your partner has Lyme, use latex condoms to keep this harmful bacteria from being passed back and forth. Why get Lyme or put your partner at risk for Lyme when it's so easy to stay protected by using a Crown Skinless Skin condoms or a Wink Closer condom?

And, just like with other bacterial STDs, like syphilis , chlamydia and gonorrhea, using condoms for safety applies to sharing your adult toys, as well.