A mother in Oregon is warning other parents to check their kids and family pets for ticks, after her young daughter experienced a terrifying episode of tick paralysis.
In a video posted to Facebook on May 13, Amanda Lewis鈥檚 daughter Evelyn is seen crying and struggling to stand up, despite encouragement and help from her parents.
鈥淪he could barely walk, or crawl, and could hardly use her arms,鈥� Lewis wrote in her Facebook post, which has since been shared more than 616,000 times and has generated nearly 40,000 comments.
Lewis said she and her husband took Evelyn to a hospital, where she was seen quickly in the ER. The doctor who saw Evelyn told them he suspected that the girl was bitten by a tick based on his 15 years of experience with other children her age, who presented identical symptoms from what turned out to be tick paralysis.
鈥淭hey looked her over, combed through her hair really well and sure enough found a tick hiding in her hair,鈥� Lewis wrote.
After the tick was removed, Evelyn started feeling much better. In an update to her original post, Lewis said her daughter was 鈥渂ack to her feisty little self鈥� within a few days.
鈥淢y husband and I are still in shock that this happened to our baby girl and I'm glad we were able to spread some awareness about this,鈥� Lewis wrote. 鈥淚t's not terribly common for this to happen but it's good to be aware that if your children or pets start having weakness in their limbs to look for a tick!鈥�
We had a little bit of a scary morning today...luckily everything is ok but I wanted to share this so the rest of you are aware. Evelyn started acting a little weird last night around bed time. She didn't want to stand up after her bath to get into her pajamas. I helped her and got her in bed. She was a little fussy last night and I ended up sleeping in bed with her all night. This morning she was having a hard time standing. She could barely walk, or crawl, and could hardly use her arms. We took some video this morninh to send to family to see if they had any idea what could be going on. We decided to take her into the ER right after we took this video because her symptoms were getting worse, and given Lantz's history with cancer we were quite concerned. We got into a room quickly, thank God, and were seen almost right away. The doctor talked to us for a minute and said over the past 15 years he had seen about 7 or 8 children her age with identical symptoms and more than likely she had a tick. They looked her over, combed through her hair really well and sure enough found a tick hiding in her hair. This condition is called tick paralysis. It can affect dogs also and can be fatal. I'm glad we took her in when we did and that it wasn't something worse and that we found it before it got worse. The ticks are out like crazy right now in this area so if your children or dogs start acting a little off, check them thoroughly for ticks! I feel awful for not having seen the little bugger sooner but I never would have even thought to look for a tick. It's crazy that a little bug can do this! We're still in the ER. Now that the tick has been removed, Evelyn should start feeling like herself in a couple of hours. She's enjoying popsicles and watching cartoons 鈽� They want to monitor her for a little longer then we can go home Crazy morning UPDATE: I didn't realize how widespread this video would end up! So for those of you who don't know us personally, Evelyn is doing much better. It took her until the next morning to start acting like herself again. She is now pretty much completely back to her feisty little self. She complains a lot about her head itching but otherwise she's just fine. My husband and I are still in shock that this happened to our baby girl and I'm glad we were able to spread some awareness about this. It's not terribly common for this to happen but it's good to be aware that if your children or pets start having weakness in their limbs to look for a tick! The doctor told us that the type of tick that was found on her does not typically carry lyme disease (dog tick) but we are keeping a close eye on her anyway. "Tick paralysis results from injection of a toxin from tick salivary glands during a blood meal. The toxin causes symptoms within 2鈥�7 days, beginning with weakness in both legs that progresses to paralysis. The paralysis ascends to the trunk, arms, and head within hours and may lead to respiratory failure and death. The disease can present as acute ataxia without muscle weakness" For more information on Tick paralysis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick_paralysis http://www.cvbd.org/en/tick-borne-diseases/tick-paralysis/human-tick-paralysis/ I'm so thankful that we got her to the doctor quickly before her symptoms got worse and that the doctor in the ER that day had experience with this otherwise who knows how many tests they would have been doing on her trying to figure out what was wrong! Thank you all for your kind words and support through this crazy time! 鈾� UPDATE AGAIN: We're located in Eastern Oregon USA. Ticks though can be found all over. They're causing all kinds of problems on the east coast of America right now as well
Posted by Amanda Lewis on Saturday, May 13, 2017
Tick paralysis is a rare condition that can affect both humans and animals. It is caused by a toxin released by certain types of ticks.
According to the the species causing the most cases of human tick paralysis in Canada are Dermacentor andersoni (known as the Rocky Mountain wood tick) and Dermacentor variabilis (the American dog tick).
Unlike Lyme disease, which is also spread by ticks, tick paralysis is not reportable in Canada so official case counts are not available.
Tick paralysis affects children more often than adults.
The BC Centre for Disease Control says symptoms of tick paralysis begin after a female tick attaches itself to the host鈥檚 skin and feeds on blood for several days. Initial symptoms may include numbness and tingling in the face and limbs, fatigue, weakness and muscle pains. The symptoms can then progress to partial or complete paralysis, starting from the legs and moving upwards.
The agency recommends a careful examination of the entire body for ticks, including combing the hair with a fine-tooth comb. Ticks should be carefully removed with clean tweezers, ensuring that the insect鈥檚 entire body is removed from the skin.
Afterwards, the site of the bite should be washed with soap and water or disinfected with alcohol or hand sanitizer, the says. In cases of illness, the federal government encourages people to save the removed ticks and submit them for testing.
