Significance of Tick Bite Site Appearance

I’m not sure - but a tick bite with redness - I’d get her on a few weeks of antibiotics.
Not worth it to guess and end up with more symptoms and then treatment time likely longer and possibly harder to treat/ chronic infection.
I just would do what it takes to “nip” it now.

I guess they didn’t send the tick for testing. (It’s not something that most people know about)

i think i am with Rainy and Girlie on this

there are so many different organisms and even different strains of organisms out there, together with the high variability in human immune response from one individual to another.

manifestations of rashes are, in the real world, highly variable - only a typical recognisable bulls eye rash in a minority of confirmed borrelia infections.

the fact that there is some kind of reaction at the bite site tends to indicate something the persons body didn't like got in - and the chance of there being an unpleasant infective agent is therefore higher than if there were no reaction.

if you then consider the risk of 1 month of antibiotics vs the risk of life changing illness the risk vs benefit equation would seem to point strongly towards treating as a precaution

doxycycline is active for most tick borne bacteria - and is the usual 1st choice for this reason
it is also routinely given for travel to many malaria endemic countries for the same period of time - and we have lots of safety data for it - the risks are generally very small -

so even if the chances of acquiring life changing lyme are small - the consequences of getting severe or chronic lyme are life changing - so the equation will normally come down in favour of treating

i would go for 1 month - but not stop if any neurological, arthritic or vascular symptoms occur