▲小女孩突然出現半身癱瘓的症狀，送醫檢查後才發現是壁蝨搞的鬼。（圖／翻攝自「Amanda Lewis」臉書）
國際中心／綜合報導
每年到了初夏，就是各種蚊蟲紛紛作怪的時節，家裡有小孩、毛小孩的爸媽務必要注意自家寶貝的身體狀況。美國一名小女孩突然出現半癱症狀，送醫後才得知是一隻藏在頭髮裡的小蟲在搞鬼。
美國的春夏之交正值壁蝨（tick，又稱蜱蟲、扁蝨）活躍時期，路易斯（Lewis）一家住在奧勒岡州，這一區並不是典型的壁蝨分布區，以至於當3歲小女兒伊芙琳出現症狀時，路易斯夫妻一時之間完全不知所措。
媽媽亞曼達PO出一段影片，他們先是發現伊芙琳洗完澡後，呈現奇怪的姿態，看起來不太想站起來，她原本不以為意，安撫她睡覺之後，隔天一早狀況仍然沒有好轉，她完全無法靠自己的力量站起來，畫面中的爸爸扶著她，但她不斷哭喊著跌到在地，模樣令人心疼。
伊芙琳的爸爸患有不明原因的癌症 ，他們擔心伊芙琳可能也出現症狀，緊急將她送醫，醫生仔細檢查後告訴他們，他曾經在幾個小孩身上看到類似症狀，應該是壁蝨造成的暫時性麻痹，之後醫生在伊芙琳的頭髮裡梳下一隻壁蝨，癱瘓麻痺的症狀隨即解除。
▼遭壁蝨叮咬可能引起暫時性的半身麻痺。（圖／達志影像／美聯社）
這段影片已超過2千萬次點閱，亞曼達PO文說：「我們還處在震驚當中，幸運的是我們很快就將她送醫，沒有讓事情變得更糟，現在伊芙琳除了抱怨頭皮很癢之外，其他一切都好。」
被壁蝨叮咬會造成搔癢和疼痛，若無立即處理，2～7天內會出現四肢無力的症狀，還可能因呼吸衰竭而休克死亡。維持寵物和環境的清潔是防治壁蝨的最佳方法，只要出外踏青，經過草地活動後都要檢查有無壁蝨叮咬，寵物最好每月使用壁蝨預防藥一次。
▼影片取自「Amanda Lewis」臉書。
We had a little bit of a scary morning today...luckily everything is ok but I wanted to share this so the rest of you are aware. Evelyn started acting a little weird last night around bed time. She didn't want to stand up after her bath to get into her pajamas. I helped her and got her in bed. She was a little fussy last night and I ended up sleeping in bed with her all night. This morning she was having a hard time standing. She could barely walk, or crawl, and could hardly use her arms. We took some video this morninh to send to family to see if they had any idea what could be going on. We decided to take her into the ER right after we took this video because her symptoms were getting worse, and given Lantz's history with cancer we were quite concerned. We got into a room quickly, thank God, and were seen almost right away. The doctor talked to us for a minute and said over the past 15 years he had seen about 7 or 8 children her age with identical symptoms and more than likely she had a tick. They looked her over, combed through her hair really well and sure enough found a tick hiding in her hair. This condition is called tick paralysis. It can affect dogs also and can be fatal. I'm glad we took her in when we did and that it wasn't something worse and that we found it before it got worse. The ticks are out like crazy right now in this area so if your children or dogs start acting a little off, check them thoroughly for ticks! I feel awful for not having seen the little bugger sooner but I never would have even thought to look for a tick. It's crazy that a little bug can do this! We're still in the ER. Now that the tick has been removed, Evelyn should start feeling like herself in a couple of hours. She's enjoying popsicles and watching cartoons ☺ They want to monitor her for a little longer then we can go home Crazy morning UPDATE: I didn't realize how widespread this video would end up! So for those of you who don't know us personally, Evelyn is doing much better. It took her until the next morning to start acting like herself again. She is now pretty much completely back to her feisty little self. She complains a lot about her head itching but otherwise she's just fine. My husband and I are still in shock that this happened to our baby girl and I'm glad we were able to spread some awareness about this. It's not terribly common for this to happen but it's good to be aware that if your children or pets start having weakness in their limbs to look for a tick! The doctor told us that the type of tick that was found on her does not typically carry lyme disease (dog tick) but we are keeping a close eye on her anyway. "Tick paralysis results from injection of a toxin from tick salivary glands during a blood meal. The toxin causes symptoms within 2–7 days, beginning with weakness in both legs that progresses to paralysis. The paralysis ascends to the trunk, arms, and head within hours and may lead to respiratory failure and death. The disease can present as acute ataxia without muscle weakness" For more information on Tick paralysis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick_paralysis http://www.cvbd.org/en/tick-borne-diseases/tick-paralysis/human-tick-paralysis/ I'm so thankful that we got her to the doctor quickly before her symptoms got worse and that the doctor in the ER that day had experience with this otherwise who knows how many tests they would have been doing on her trying to figure out what was wrong! Thank you all for your kind words and support through this crazy time! ♥ UPDATE AGAIN: We're located in Eastern Oregon USA. Ticks though can be found all over. They're causing all kinds of problems on the east coast of America right now as well
由 Amanda Lewis 貼上了 2017年5月13日
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