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Tick paralysis can occur after a tick bite. Young children under 8 years of age are most often exposed to its symptoms. What are the causes of tick paralysis - what causes it? What are the symptoms of tick-borne paralysis and what is the treatment?

Contents:

  1. Forceps paralysis - causes
  2. Tick paralysis - symptoms
  3. Forceps paralysis - diagnosis
  4. Forceps paralysis - treatment
  5. Tick paralysis - prevention
  6. Tick paralysis mainly affects children

Tick paralysisoccurs after a tick bite, most often by adult female ticks found mainly in North America and the eastern coast of Australia. Occasional cases are also registered in Europe and Africa.

The disease affects people of all ages, but is most often diagnosed in children under 8 years of age .¹

The analysis of the incidence in all US states in the years 1946-2006 confirmed that 80% of patients were patients and girls under 8 years of age .¹

Also in Australia, children aged 1 to 5 suffer from tick-borne palsy¹

Forceps paralysis - causes

The cause of tick paralysis are toxins in the saliva of ticks, released into the host's body during their feeding.

The mechanism of action of neurotoxins is not fully understood, but it is believed that it depends on the tick species.

For example, the larvae of African ticksArgas walkeraecause flaccid paralysis by reducing the transmission of nerve impulses along peripheral nerve fibers and reducing the conduction velocity of motor neurons.

The mechanism of action of neurotoxins is often similar to that of botulinum toxin.

Tick paralysis is mainly caused by fertilized female ticks. However, rare cases of infection by larvae and nymphs have been reported.

There are over 60 species of ticks that can cause paralysis. These are mainly ticks from the Ixodes family, e.g. Ixodes holocyclus, found on the eastern coast of Australia, Dermacentor ticks present in the Rocky Mountains, the northwest coast of the USA and the south-west coast of Australia.Western Canada .¹

In European countries, includingin Poland, there are 6 species of ticks that can cause tick paralysis.¹

Tick paralysis - symptoms

Tick paralysis has two stages:

1. Period before the onset of the disease

Characterized by nonspecific flu-like symptoms:

Tick paralysis usually occurs without fever, sometimes the body temperature may be slightly elevated. No nausea or vomiting is observed.

  • weakening
  • sleepy
  • headaches
  • sometimes with parasthesia (tingling, numbness)

These ailments appear on average within 36 hours from the tick's entry into the skin. Rapid removal of the tick, which is a source of neurotoxin, prevents the development of the disease.

2. Period of proper electrocution

Symptoms appear between 4 and 7 days after the tick bite.

The period of proper paralysis takes the form of progressive muscle weakness and muscle paralysis. It begins with problems with coordination of movements and maintaining balance (ataxia) and weakening of the muscles of the lower limbs.

Patients have difficulty walking and sitting down.

There have been reports of tick-borne paralysis complicated by myocarditis and myocarditis.

Paralysis is ascending and most often progresses from the lower limbs upwards, leading to flaccid, four-limb paralysis. It can also involve the respiratory muscles.

Isolated paralysis of the muscles supplied by the VII nerve, or the muscles of the eyeballs, are also described.

Drooling, dysarthria, dysphagia, speech disorders, and ptosis have also been reported.

Forceps paralysis - diagnosis

Tick paralysis is similar to many diseases with symptoms of flaccid paralysis. There are known cases of misdiagnosis of Guillain-Barre syndrome, and patients were unnecessarily treated with plasmapheresis and immunoglobulin G.

Forceps paralysis should be differentiated from:

No abnormalities are found in laboratory and imaging tests.

  • botulinum toxin poisoning
  • polio
  • spinal cord injury
  • transverse myelitis
  • myasthenia gravis
  • poisoning with heavy metals or organophosphorus compounds
  • West Nile fever

DID YOU KNOW:Western Blot test and Lyme disease. Interpretation of test results

Paralysistick - treatment

The symptoms of infection disappear after removing the tick from the skin.How soon? It depends on the type of tick. For example, when a Dermacentor spp. Tick is removed, there is a rapid improvement and the symptoms disappear completely by 60 hours.

Rapid removal of a tick prevents the development of tick paralysis (paralysis occurs when a tick feeds in the human body for 4 to 7 days).

However, in the case of the Ixodes holocyclus tick, this period can be significantly extended up to several weeks.

For paralysis of the respiratory muscles, patients may require short-term mechanical ventilation.

Symptomatic treatment is recommended in the event of itching, hives or swelling at the site of the tick bite.

Antibiotic therapy may be required when there is local bacterial superinfection or when a tick-borne disease is diagnosed.

Tick paralysis - prevention

It is recommended to carefully inspect the body after returning home from a stay in forest areas, plots of land, clearings, areas adjacent to water reservoirs.

It is recommended to use deterrents, appropriate outfit: clothes with long sleeves, pants with long legs tucked into socks.

Tick paralysis mainly affects children

As already mentioned,tick paralysis mainly affects children. in 5-year-old Kailyn Kirk from Grenada, Mississippi (USA), who was temporarily paralyzed after a tick bite on the head.

The girl was unable to walk, fell over and had trouble speaking. Her mother, brushing her baby's hair, discovered a large tick clinging to her scalp.

After arriving at the hospital, the doctors reassured the child's parents that after removing the tick, the symptoms of paralysis should disappear within 12-24 hours - and so it happened. Luckily, Kailyn Kirk finally recovered.

Bibliography:

1. Borawski K., Pancewicz S., Czupryna P., Zajkowska J., Moniuszko-Malinowska A., Paraliż kelszczowy, "Epidemiological Review" 2022; 72 (1)

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Category:

Neurology