The family of 2-year-old Kenley Ratliff have spoken out to warn other parents about the dangers of tick bites after their own toddler contracted Rocky Mountain spotted fever and died, Today reported.
The family has also warned about how quickly the disease can spread and how potentially deadly it can become if not diagnosed and treated right away.
In June 2017, Kenley began feeling sick and was discovered to have a 103.8 degree fever.
Her mother, Kayla Conn, rushed her to the hospital where doctors diagnosed the toddler with a bacterial infection and prescribed amoxicillin. Conn then took her home again on strict instruction that if the little girl’s fever spiked, she was to bring her back to the ER.
The next day, Kenley had another fever, this time at 104 degrees. Her mother brought her in to the ER where she tested positive for strep throat. Again, the child was treated and sent home.
After Kenley’s fever persisted for three more days, her family began to panic and took her to the University of Indiana’s Riley Children’s Hospital.
Conn’s sister and Kenley’s aunt, Jordan Clapp, said the toddler’s body went “completely limp” on the way to the hospital”.
“Her eyes closed and my sister had to hold her head up.”
Kenley had also developed a rash on her arms and legs, leading doctors at the hospital to determine the strep diagnosis was wrong.
The toddler began to show other tell-tale signs of the tick-borne illness Rocky Mountain spotted fever, including organ failure and swelling of the brain.
Although doctors had begun treating Kenley for the disease, it was too late to save the little girl, and she died in the hospital.
It’s quite scary, but it’s not unusual for children to show ambiguous signs for the deadly disease.
Dr. Paige Armstrong, a medical epidemiologist with the Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the symptoms of Rocky Mountain spotted fever are non-specific and therefore the disease often goes mistreated.
“In the early stages there can be high fever, headache and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea,” she said. “The rash tends not to develop until days two or four in children and rashes can be quite common with viruses.”
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“Children less than 10 are at increased risk of fatality. Even though they represent only 6 percent of the cases, they represent 22 percent of the fatal cases.”
Because the symptoms are so similar to other less threatening disease-related symptoms, most cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever are misdiagnosed.
“Delayed diagnosis is one of the big challenges with this disease.”, Dr. Andrew Nowalk, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and an infectious disease specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said.
Another family has recently warned parents against the threat of the tick-borne illness after their son developed the disease.
Kayla Oblisk found a tick on her 2-year-old son, Jackson’s, neck last month. Just a week later, the toddler was in intensive care, battling the Rocky Mountain spotted fever disease, Fox News reported.
“This experience has been something that I honestly wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy.”
Oblisk described having to helplessly watch as Jackson became dehydrated, developed rashes on his body, and screamed whenever anyone touched him.
His pediatrician first believed the toddler had developed a viral rash but Oblisk said she knew it was something else, especially when it worsened.
“If you think something is wrong with your baby then you need to keep asking until you get real answers. Because you are your child’s voice,” she said in a Facebook post.
Jackson is now reportedly “doing better”, though he will have to undergo rehabilitation therapy to regain proper use of his legs.
“I have been bitten by hundreds of ticks and never thought that something like this could ever happen because you hear about tick-borne illnesses, but you never really see them around,” Oblisk said. “I knew that ticks carried illnesses, but I really thought that it was so rare that it would never happen to us.”
