Five-Year-Old Girl Paralysed By A Tick Bite, Mother Discovers Blood-Sucking Insect On The Child's Scalp

A five-year-old girl from Mississippi was paralysed after she developed tick paralysis caused by tick bites. The problem was discovered by the girl’s mother when the pre-schooler had trouble getting up in the morning of June 6 to go to daycare. Jessica Griffin noticed that there was something wrong with her daughter. She told Mississippi News Now that her child fell as soon as her feet touched the floor. Although she’d try to stand up and walk, she’d continue to fall.

At first, Jessica thought that her daughter’s legs might have gone numb. But when brushing her hair, she noticed that there was a tick on her child’s scalp. She removed the tick and rushed her daughter to the emergency room where she was diagnosed with tick paralysis.

What Are Ticks?

Ticks are parasitic insects that survive by sucking the blood of mammals, birds and reptiles and amphibians. These small arachnids, do not jump or fly like other bugs. They simply reach out to the host with their legs and attach themselves to it.

What is Tick Paralysis?

Tick paralysis is a temporary paralysis brought on by tick bites. It is rare in humans and is usually seen in livestock. But in humans, it is known to affect children under the age of 10. Young girls of any age can get affected. Egg-carrying female ticks that are engorged with blood generally produces a neurotoxin in its salivary glands, which is transmitted to the host while it feeds on it. Research shows that the largest amount of toxin is produced in the fifth and seventh day after the tick attaches itself.

But since it is so rare, doctors often forget to consider tick paralysis while diagnosing the patient. There are plenty of cases where a mother accidentally discovers the tick while stroking the child or a nurse while bathing the patient.

That’s why, as a general rule for patient safety, it is advised to never definitively diagnose Guillain-Barre syndrome without checking the body for a tick.

How To Treat Ticks Paralysis

The treatment of tick paralysis, according to studies, is “among the simplest and most gratifying.” To remove the tick, the doctor may use fine forceps close to the skin with gentle, steady, upward motion. Care should be taken to extract the tick entirely from the body, without leaving the mouthparts embedded in the patient’s skin.

Removing the tick causes rapid improvement in the patient’s symptoms. Some patients who are severely affected may need ventilation support and intensive care treatment until the neurotoxin is drained out of the body. Since tick paralysis is caused by toxins, antimicrobial agents are not given to the patient.

How To Prevent Tick Bites

• Preventing exposure to the ticks and performing frequent checks for ticks is the best way to avoid any tick-related illness. There are no vaccines at present to prevent tick-borne diseases.
• Wearing protective clothing with long sleeves and closed shoes is a must if you live in tick-prone areas. Most cases occur in late spring and in summer.
• While walking through tick prone areas with grass and brush, wear socks to protect the skin.
• Tick repellents such as diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) can be applied to skin or clothing to keep ticks at bay. They can be toxic in nature and shouldn’t be applied on infants.
• Dogs and livestock are susceptible to tick bites who may drag the insects home. Consult a veterinarian to discuss the best tick prevention products for your pets.
• A bath or a shower is important as soon as you come indoors to wash off any tick that has attached to you. Conduct a full-body checkup with a mirror to view all the parts of your body.
• Parents should check children thoroughly for any tick bites since they are more vulnerable to paralysis caused by the tick-borne neurotoxin.
• Wash clothes in hot water for 10 minutes to kill off any ticks that have stuck to dry clothing when you come indoors.

Apart from tick paralysis, the arachnoids are also responsible for other illnesses such as Lyme disease, Colorado tick fever, tickborne relapsing fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, etc.

(References: Tick Paralysis; CDC)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 13, 2018 04:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).