Child dies after tick bite in northeast Missouri

ST. LOUIS -- Health officials warned Missourians to guard against tick bites Wednesday, after the death of a child bitten by one of the insects in a northeastern part of the state.

The child became ill after being bitten by a tick and died May 23, after 10 days of intensive medical care, health officials said.

Tests performed at St. Louis Children's Hospital showed the child was infected with ehrlichiosis, a disease related to Rocky Mountain spotted fever, said Dr. Howard Pue, Missouri's public health veterinarian.

State officials declined to release any additional information about where the child may have been bitten.

"This is a phenomenon we're seeing statewide. We didn't want to give the impression that northeast Missouri was particularly hard hit," said Karen Yates, a Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services specialist in tick- and mosquito-borne diseases.

The state health department reports a rise this year in tick-borne diseases such as ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Other such diseases reported in Missouri this year include tularemia and Lyme-like disease.

"Serious complications from ehrlichiosis are rare, but a death like this -- of an otherwise healthy child -- is a solemn reminder of the importance of avoiding tick bites to reduce the risk of getting a tick-borne disease," Pue said.

He said the risk is low, but early symptoms are difficult to distinguish from other diseases.

The state health department has received increased reports this year of several tick-borne diseases.

Sixteen cases of ehrlichiosis have been reported so far. In the past five years, Missouri has seen an average of nine cases per year during the same time period.

Officials said 54 cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever have been reported so far, with an average of 22 cases per year over the past five years. Other tick-borne diseases reported in Missouri this year include two cases of tularemia and 10 cases of Lyme-like disease.

The state continues to test and investigate those cases, but has concerns about "the large number of tick-borne disease reports we have received this year," Pue said.

Tick-borne illnesses cannot be quickly diagnosed through testing, but treatment decisions will be made on clinical evidence and the likelihood of tick exposure, officials said. They said if a person has been bitten by a tick and experiences a sudden fever, headache, rash, achy muscles and nausea, the person should contact a doctor for evaluation.

Tick-borne diseases can be effectively treated with appropriate antibiotics, especially when caught at an early stage, Pue added.

On the Net

Information about tick-borne disease prevention:

www.dhss.mo.gov/TicksCarryDisease

www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/list--tickborne.htm