Virginia family warns parents after daughter’s tick paralysis

SUFFOLK, Va. ( WAVY ) — It’s that time of year when bugs of all kinds are chirping away, but even the smallest creatures can be harmful.

A Virginia family is still in shock after their 4-year-old daughter Ruby nearly died after being bitten by a tick, and they are cautioning other parents to be careful.

“Everything felt like a dream with how fast everything went,” said Brian Carr, Ruby’s father. “She laid around for two days before it really started creeping up.”

“From a clumsy-falling-down to the inability to turn her head from side to side,” said Ruby’s grandmother Karen Carr.

A trip to the emergency room led them to a scary diagnosis: tick paralysis.

“It’s very rare in our area and it’s something to do with the female tick,” the grandmother said.

Former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, who is currently a pediatric neurologist at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, said there’s a “neurotoxin that’s in the saliva of the tick, and that’s what causes the paralysis.”

Northam said the paralysis begins in the legs and then makes its way up the body.

“Eventually, we’ll get to the point where a child can’t walk or sit up, they are pretty much bedridden,” Northam said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , symptoms can appear similar to other neurologic conditions, such as botulism, which is a type of food poisoning. Symptoms of botulism can include fatigue, weakness, vertigo, and difficulty speaking and swallowing, among others. If left untreated, some cases can even be fatal, per the California Department of Public Health.

There are more than 40 different kinds of ticks, and the American dog tick is one that can cause tick paralysis.

“I’ve grown up in the woods,” Ruby’s father said. “You see them big, and the animals are still getting around like normal, but you turn around and one the size of a pea almost takes my daughter down.”

The tick was latched to Ruby’s scalp.

“As soon as the tick is removed, as was the case for little Ruby, the child starts getting better within hours,” Northam said.

The CDC says movement is typically regained within 24 hours of tick removal.

Northam said the region typically only sees a couple of these cases per year, and sometimes they can be misdiagnosed for other neurological illnesses. That’s why it’s always best to see a doctor — something Ruby’s family is glad they did.

“If one little tick got this little girl, you know there’s more than one out there,” her grandmother said.

Ruby is expected to make a full recovery.

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