A Six-Year-Old Girl with Tick Paralysis

Abstract

Tick paralysis is a neurologic syndrome that is frequently confused with other acute disorders. In this syndrome, ascending paralysis is caused by a potent neurotoxin produced by an attached, engorged tick. Removal of the tick leads to prompt recovery. Although cases of tick paralysis were clearly described almost 90 years ago in the United States,1 Canada,2 and Australia,3 the syndrome is unfamiliar to many clinicians today. Since a delay in the diagnosis can have devastating consequences, physicians must be aware of the salient features of this syndrome. If the diagnosis of tick paralysis is being considered, detection is possible with . . .