A 5-year-old girl from Florida found out that she could no longer stand nor walk after a family night out. Her mother discovered a female tick stuck on the girl’s scalp. Emergency room doctors diagnosed her with tick paralysis, a rare tick-borne condition.
Female Tick Was Challenging to Find, Florida Mom Declared
Jessica Griffin of Midway, Florida, recalls what she felts when she saw Kailyn, her daughter, trying to get out of bed.
During a recent press interview, the woman told a reporter that the night before Kailyn was rushed to the emergency room, they were out playing T-ball.
The very next day, Jessica went to Kailyn’s room to wake her up. According to Kailyn’s mom, as soon as she got out of the bed, she collapsed on the floor. More than that, Jessica saw that she couldn’t get up no matter how hard she tried.
Thinking that her legs could still be asleep, Mrs. Griffin put Kaylin on the bed. As she was brushing Kaylin’s hair, she noticed a red bump on the girl’s scalp. Upon taking a closer look, Mrs. Griffin realized that it was no ordinary bump, but blood-filled female tick resting on the child’s head after having a hearty meal.
She pulled the critter, placed it in a sealed bag, and rushed Kailyn to the emergency room. Several CT and blood tests later, the doctors diagnosed the child with tick paralysis, a condition that mainly affects animals.
As the ER doctors explained, when the female tick attaches itself to the body to lay eggs, it injects a toxin into the bloodstream. The toxin travels from the extremities all the way up to the brain. If left untreated, the toxin could shut down the brain area responsible for breathing.
Kaylin made a full recovery after her mother removed the female tick.
Image source: MaxPixel
Deborah Campbell
