Mum's parasite warning after daughter was left unable to walk
Jessica Griffin, from Mississippi in the US, said she did not realise anything was wrong with Kailyn until the little girl woke up last Wednesday morning.
“She woke up to get ready to go to daycare and as soon as her feet hit the floor, she fell,” Ms Griffin told MS News.
“She would try to stand and walk but would continue to fall so I thought her legs were just asleep.”
The mother said she noticed the tick when she went to brush Kailyn’s hair and shared a photo of the red mark on her scalp to Facebook.
“I was just thinking that her legs were asleep until I noticed that she couldn’t hardly talk,” Ms Griffin wrote.
“After tons of blood work and a CT of the head [doctors have] ruled it as tick paralysis! PLEASE for the love of god check your kids for ticks! It’s more common in children than it is adults! (sic)”
Kailyn was taken to University of Mississippi Medical Centre and was able to walk out of hospital after receiving treatment.
Tick paralysis is caused by a neurotoxin produced in the parasite’s salivary gland.
Symptoms can take up to seven days to develop.
