Tick paralysis
As tick paralysis one by one is engraving a female tick induced intoxication with ascending flaccid paralysis ( paralysis ), respectively.
Occurrence and cause of disease
A total of over 40 different types of ticks belonging to the genera Amblyomma , Dermacentor , Haemaphysalis , Hyalomma , Ixodes and Rhipicephalus have been described as triggers of tick paralysis . Tick paralysis has not yet been observed in Europe, but it has been observed in North and South America, Africa and Australia. The nerve poison responsible for the clinical picture is only formed by the tick after about five to seven days of sucking activity, which is why tick paralysis is a very rare clinical picture. Children and young animals are particularly affected.
Clinical picture and treatment
The illness announces itself unspecifically with irritability, tiredness, pain and paresthesia that last about 24 hours ( prodromal phase ). A progressive flaccid paralysis develops over the course of days, which can ultimately even lead to death due to failure of the respiratory muscles .
The treatment is carried out by removing the tick immediately, after which the paralysis regresses within hours.
literature
- Hans Horst: Tick borreliosis - Lyme disease in humans and animals . Spitta, 2003, ISBN 978-3-934211-49-0 , pp. 176 .
- Herbert Hof, Rüdiger Dörries: Medical microbiology . 5th edition. Georg Thieme, 2014, ISBN 978-3-13-152965-7 , pp. 591 .