Tick paralysis occurs when neurotoxins from the insect reach the host
The next morning after an outdoor T-ball game, a five-year-old girl from Mississippi collapsed on the floor as the got out of bed. While her mother didn’t react at first, she immediately realized something was wrong as she noticed a tick attached to the girl’s head. The child was experiencing tick paralysis and put her family through the scariest moments they had ever felt.
The girl couldn’t speak and move her legs
On a regular Tuesday evening, the Griffin family spent some quality time at a T-ball game. However, their happiness was destroyed the next day when their youngest daughter, Kailyn, collapsed on the floor and struggled to speak. At first, her mother thought she was still sleepy, so she ignored the symptoms.
However, when she tried to tie the girl’s hair into a ponytail, she noticed something frightening. Right on Kailyn’s scalp, there was a tick swollen with blood. The woman got extremely scared, as she feared her daughter was experiencing tick paralysis. Therefore, after removing the tick and placing it in a bag, she rushed the little girl to the hospital.
What is tick paralysis?
Tick paralysis occurs at the bite of a female tick that’s preparing to lay eggs. Whenever the insect has eaten enough blood, it starts producing a neurotoxin that reaches its host. This neurotoxin is the one that causes the paralysis. First, it starts with numbness in the legs, then in the other extremities, and an overall feeling of fatigue.
The victim will gradually find it harder to move their face and tongue. If they don’t intervene, tick paralysis reaches the lungs and ends in respiratory failure. Therefore, the girl was lucky her mother spotted the tick so quickly. However, it takes between five and seven days for the symptoms to appear. Doctors couldn’t tell how long the tick had been embedded in the girl’s scalp, but they could take measures and help the girl feel better.
Image source: Flickr
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