What seemed like one singular, small bug bite while at his grandmother’s house turned out to be something much worse for this young boy.
Mason McNair, five, got an infection after he was bitten by a tick while he was enjoying a day at his grandmother’s.
His family had removed the tick very quickly and rushed him straight to the hospital, and after confirmation of the infection, doctors gave him antibiotics to take.
But instead of getting better, Mason’s condition got much, much worse.
He began to get rashes from the infected site, and they spread at an alarming rate over this entire body.
He also began developing headaches, was very fatigued, and was experiencing diarrhea.
Danielle McNair, Mason’s mother, took him back to the hospital, and doctors said that Mason was having an allergic reaction to his antibiotics.
But Danielle, watching the rashes spread to his feet, toes, and neck, knew that the explanation given by the doctors weren’t anywhere near satisfactory.
Since the doctors thought it was an open and shut case, she headed onto the Internet to look up her son’s symptoms.
That’s when she discovered a condition known as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and reading the symptoms and its possible repercussions were nothing short of terrifying for her.
Otherwise known as the blue disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a disease that is transmitted to humans through tick bites.
Although it can be easily treated and cured, not getting the needed medical care as soon as possible can result in fatalities.
Naturally, Danielle was horrified, and she didn’t even want to remotely entertain the idea of her son passing away from this disease.
Danielle rushed back to speak to those doctors again and showed them what she’d discovered.
It didn’t take long for them to realize that Mason’s symptoms matched up much better with Rocky Mountain spotted fever as opposed to an allergic reaction to the antibiotics he’d had to take.
Thankfully, this discovery was made just in time!
Mason was switched to new antibiotics that would treat this fever, and it didn’t take long for him to make a smooth recovery.
Soon, he was back up on his feet, perfectly safe and healthy.
This came as a huge relief to Danielle, and she is now reaching out to other parents to spread awareness of the possibility of bug bites of all kinds leading to more serious problems.
Needless to say, she’s very glad she followed her instincts on this case!
It’s important to take all symptoms seriously, especially when children are involved.
All illnesses should be considered potentially serious and increasing severity of symptoms should never be ignored – and of course, there’s no harm in looking up more serious symptoms on the Internet, if you take results with a grain of salt.
Removing a tick from the body as soon as you can will also help reduce potential risk for health issues.
Tick bites that result in Rocky Mountain spotted fever often do display very similar symptoms to an allergic reaction, and it can be quite difficult to tell the difference, especially depending on each person.
The best bet would be to go to a hospital for diagnostics and mention the worrisome illness as one of your concerns.
