'Please parents check your children': Doctors issue health warning over horror tick season
Sydney is in the grip of a major tick plague, one that's spreading from the south through to The Hills and onto the Northern Beaches.
Doctors are warning there is a serious health risk for children and how you remove ticks is very important to get right.
Sydney-based Susie Maher's son Liam was bitten by a tick but she had no idea how it would become his cryptonite.
"He came out in welts and very itchy and the end result for us was he contracted the mammalian meat allergy," Ms Maher said.
Liam is now allergic to all red meat.
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Vet Rob Zammit has seen five cases recently and is urging parents it's not just cats and dogs who need to be checked daily.
"This is very very serious this year," Mr Zammit said.
"Please parents check your children."
In certain areas of Baulkham Hills people are seeing ticks where there haven't been ticks before, Mr Zammit added.
Ticks have also been found in new construction areas in Rouse Hill, Box Hill, Engadine and in the Sutherland Shire and all of the northern beaches.
"Well, firstly, don't get bitten," Tiara medical specialist Associate Professor Sheryl van Nunen said.
"Dress for the ocassion - so have a long sleeve shirt on, have your long trousers with your shirt tucked in, and make your backyard safe for your family."
If you do get bitten by a tick experts say the worst thing to try and do is pull them out with tweezers as they can release toxins into your blood.
The best remedy for small ticks is scabies cream.
Experts say to dab it on and leave it for an hour and for big ticks give it five shots of dry ice.
"It's upsetting as a mother because if I had removed the ticks properly he wouldn't have had the reaction that he got," Ms Maher said.
For more information on ticks click here or contact Vineyard Vet.
