Tick paralysis

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Tick paralysis results from a tick bite.

Hard- and soft-bodied female ticks are thought to produce a neurotoxin capable of causing paralysis in children. Ticks attach to the skin to feed on blood. It is during this feeding process that the toxin enters the bloodstream.

The resulting paralysis is ascending (starting in the lower body and moving up) and is similar to that seen in Guillain-Barre syndrome and opposite that seen in botulism and paralytic shellfish poisoning (descending).

Affected children develop an unsteady gait (ataxia) followed several days later by lower extremity weakness that gradually moves up to involve the upper limbs. Paralysis may cause loss of respiratory ability and the patient may require a ventilator.

Review Date: 07/28/2005
Reviewed By: Kevin Sheth, M.D., Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.