With the beginning of the summer holidays, our kids are spending more time outdoors; climbing trees and going on woodland walks and adventures.
At this time of year, it’s important to be aware any danger our children might come across in the natural world.
This mum’s warning about the dangers of tick larvae and how she discovered seed ticks on her daughter’s body last summer is well worth a read if your kids will be spending time outdoors in nature.
Mum Beka Setzer found something very alarming on her daughter’s body after her little girl, Emmalee, was playing outside.
Emmalee was rolling on the ground under a sprinkler on a hot day, and having fun. When she came back indoors, her observant mum spotted some tiny black dots on her legs, abdomen and armpits.
Beka explains what happened next: “Thinking they may have just been seeds, I tried to wipe then scrape one off and it was a TICK!
"She must've been playing in or near a nest of tick larvae, and was covered. I spent nearly an hour-and-a-half picking off well over 150 minuscule baby ticks off of her, gave her a long dish soap bath with repeated washing, washed all bedding, clothing and toys she came into contact with afterwards, and administered Benadryl.”
The next morning, Emmalee woke up feeling under the weather. The little girl had a low-grade fever, was covered in red spots, and had a hard swollen lymph node.
Despite Beka’s best precautions, her little girl had suffered a reaction to the tick bites. Beka took Emmalee to the doctor, where she was prescribed a course of antibiotics and antihistamines.
Meanwhile, Beka felt it was necessary to warn other parents to be on the lookout for seed ticks as well as full-sized adult ticks.
“I want to make every parent aware of what these look like so you can be on the lookout. They're not as easy to see as the ticks you're likely looking for on yourself or children.”
Beka was worried about the dangers of Lyme Disease, so she sent off a handful of the ticks to be analysed for the disease.
Thankfully, they tested negative but her daughter will have to undergo testing for Lyme Disease in the future.
Always check your children for signs of tick bites after walks in the woods or spending time in long grass or shady humid areas.
