ATLANTA — You may have seen the frightening video on your Facebook timeline of a young Oregon girl who was left temporarily paralyzed by a tick bite.
But officials said the tick season here in Georgia will likely be more intense due to the warm winter.
Emergency room Dr. Russell Mitchell at Northside Hospital Forsyth told Channel 2's Wendy Corona that he has seen this medical phenomenon this before.
“The patient had some weakness in the legs that was gradually worsening,” Mitchell said.
In metro Atlanta, ticks are worth talking about and in the local magazine, My Forsyth, it features a full article about ticks and how to get rid of them.
“The more common thing that we'll see are things like Lyme disease or rocky mountain spotted fever,” Mitchell said. “We'll see diseases that cause fevers or rashes.”
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It is all brought on by a tick looking for a “blood mule” to feed on and through its saliva, it releases a neurotoxin that can cause problems.
For the patient Dr. Mitchell treated, he said they were able to treat the girl.
“It was on the girl’s scalp and we removed it and a few hours later the patient was doing much better,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said kids are more susceptible to extreme effects because of their size.
He said parents should check kids when they come in from playing outside because ticks can start affecting a child within hours.