A child in Arkansas was placed in a medically induced coma after being infected with a tick-borne disease.
Aiden Debusk, 7, was on a Father’s Day hike with his family last summer when he was bitten by about five ticks.
This was common in their area and Aiden’s mother, Laiken Debusk, removed the ticks as she normally would.
About 10 days later, Debusk took her son to the pediatrician after he started experiencing cold-like symptoms. The doctor prescribed over-the-counter medications like Tylenol and Benadryl, Debusk wrote in Facebook.
However, just four days later, Debusk woke up to find Aiden delirious and unable to move, only able to scream for help.
Aiden Debusk, a seven-year-old boy from Arkansas, was placed in a medically induced coma last year after contracting ehrlichiosis, a tick-borne disease.
Nine months later, Aiden has largely recovered, although he suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). He now says that he wants to be a leader one day.
Aiden suffered from ehrlichiosis, a life-threatening disease caused by ticks infected with the bacteria Ehrlichia chaffeensis, E ewingii or E muris eauclairensis.
When he refused, doctors placed Aiden in an induced coma, where he remained for several days.
Ehrlichiosis is transmitted through the bites of infected ticks, particularly lone star and blacklegged ticks. While lone star ticks are more common in the South, blacklegged ticks are typically found in the Northeast.
Symptoms usually appear one to two weeks after a tick bite, with mild signs beginning within the first five days.
According to the CDC, these include fever, chills, severe headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, confusion, and rash.
Because the symptoms closely resemble those of a cold or flu, it can be difficult to detect ehrlichiosis in time.
If the condition is not treated quickly with antibiotics, it can lead to inflammation of the brain and nervous system, respiratory failure, uncontrolled bleeding, and organ failure.
If left untreated, the condition can be fatal.
While ehrichliosis is rare, cases are increasing. In 2000, 200 cases were reported in the US, but in 2019 it was 2,000. About one percent of cases are fatal.
At the hospital, Aiden was also diagnosed with central nervous system (CNS) hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), an extreme reaction of the immune system to an infection. These symptoms include fever, enlarged liver and spleen, and rash.
Nine months later, Aiden has largely recovered from his illness, although he suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to the infection reaching his brain.
“It’s definitely a new way of life… he takes five medications twice a day,” Debusk told the local news station. THV 11.
They make him dizzy…sometimes they make him lash out. They make him gain weight, but outside of all that, we are grateful and grateful that he is still here.’
‘It’s lovely. We still have to take a trip.
Aiden and his family now urge Americans to use insect repellent to prevent ticks.
Additionally, they recommend storing ticks on a piece of clear tape so they can be analyzed for infections.
“Some are bad ticks and some aren’t,” Aiden, who said he wants to be a leader one day, told THV 11. “Ask an adult or doctor to remove them.”