Arvid Afzelius () (1857–1923) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medi ...

. As a student at the

Karolinska institutet The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally. ...

, Afzelius studied under the prominent

Moritz Kaposi Moritz Kaposi (, ; 23 October 1837 – 6 March 1902) was a physician and dermatologist from the Austro-Hungarian Empire who discovered the skin tumor that received his name (Kaposi's sarcoma). Biography Early life and name Born in Kaposvár, ...

(1837–1902) in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Kaposi has now become a household name because "his"

sarcoma A sarcoma is a rare type of cancer that arises from cells of mesenchymal origin. Originating from mesenchymal cells means that sarcomas are cancers of connective tissues such as bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, or vascular tissues. Sarcom ...

is a common lesion in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. In a 1909 meeting of the Swedish Society of Dermatology, Arvid Afzelius presented research about an expanding, ring like lesion he had observed. Afzelius published his work 12 years later and speculated that the

rash A rash is a change of the skin that affects its color, appearance, or texture. A rash may be localized in one part of the body, or affect all the skin. Rashes may cause the skin to change color, itch, become warm, bumpy, chapped, dry, cracke ...

came from the bite of an

Ixodes ''Ixodes'' is a genus of hard-bodied ticks (family Ixodidae). It includes important disease vectors of animals and humans ( tick-borne disease), and some species (notably '' Ixodes holocyclus'') inject toxins that can cause paralysis. Som ...

tick Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks a ...

. This rash, now known as

erythema migrans Erythema migrans or erythema chronicum migrans is an expanding rash often seen in the early stage of Lyme disease, and can also (but less commonly) be caused by southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI). Page last reviewed: October 22, 2015 ...

, is an early indication of

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne disease caused by species of ''Borrelia'' bacteria, Disease vector, transmitted by blood-feeding ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. It is the most common disease spread by ticks in th ...

Borrelia afzelii ''Borrelia afzelii'' is a species of ''Borrelia'' endemic to parts of Eurasia where it is one of the causative agents of Lyme disease. It is transmitted by hard-bodied ticks of the Ixodes genus (''Ixodes ricinus'' in Europe, and '' Ixodes persulc ...

, one of the

Borrelia ''Borrelia'' is a genus of bacteria of the spirochete phylum. Several species cause Lyme disease, also called Lyme borreliosis, a zoonotic, vector-borne disease transmitted by ticks. Other species of ''Borrelia'' cause relapsing fever, and are ...

species that is an agent of Lyme disease, is named in his honor.

Related Bibliography

*Verhandlungen der dermatologischen Gesellschaft zu Stockholm. Archiv für Dermatologie und Syphilis, Berlin, 1910, 101: 104. *Erythema chronicum migrans. Acta Dermato-Venereologica, Stockholm, 1921, 2: 120–125. {{DEFAULTSORT:Afzelius, Arvid 1857 births 1923 deaths Lyme disease researchers Swedish dermatologists