A youngster in Pennsylvania was swimming in a neighbor’s pool when he was bitten by a tick, which caused him to get a rare ailment that required hospitalization.
After her three-year-old Jonathan had the unusual Powassan virus, which caused an infection of the brain and the delicate tissue around it, Jamie Simoson of Harveys Lake said she was “terrified.”
Her once-active kid was hospitalized for 12 days in June due to a rare ailment before being released, and he now struggles with cognitive issues and weakness in his left side of the body.
‘He appears to have regressed a bit cognitively, but we are optimistic that his resilience will see him through,’ she told the New York Post.
Simoson claimed that on June 15, as Jonathan was having fun swimming in their neighbor’s pool, she discovered a little tick the size of a pen tip on his shoulder.
‘It was not embedded. It was not engorged. I easily removed it with a pair of tweezers, and it was still alive,’ Simoson told the Post, noting that it must have been on him for only 15 minutes.
‘He didn’t necessarily have any marks on his back shoulder until a few days later,’ she added.
‘There was just a tiny red bump. That was it.’
The Powassan virus can be transferred in 15 minutes or less, although it may take hours for symptoms to manifest, in contrast to Lyme Disease and other tick-borne infections, which can take hours or days to spread.
The youngster seemed unaffected by the insect bite, according to Simoson, but around two weeks later she received a call from his daycare informing her that Jonathan seemed to be unwell.
The once-jovial kid had turned “mopey,” complained of a headache, and the symptoms only grew worse over the course of the next few days.
Jonathan developed a temperature of 104 degrees after two trips to the doctor and showed no response to medication.
Simoson claimed that her family became frantic as physicians ran test after test, baffled by the boy’s condition.
Simoson told CBS 42, “At that moment, things got pretty terrifying.” It was quite irritating to look for an explanation.
We were scared that we may not have our child with us when we got home.
Jonathan finally had meningoencephalitis, which is what caused the swelling in his head, according to an MRI. This allowed medical professionals to treat the young patient effectively.
After receiving intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), a therapy for those with antibody shortages, for a night, Jonathan’s condition started to gradually get better and he was able to speak once more.
”It was amazing, Simoson told the Post. ‘That was the first time since the whole situation started that my husband and I both just completely broke down.’
Simoson has turned into a blood donation champion while the family concentrates on the toddler’s rehabilitation since she believes the IVIG was the only thing that may have saved her son.
Jonathan got five IVIG treatments, and after each one, his mother and the physicians noticed continuous improvements in his health.
‘We are confident, it can’t be proven, but we know deep down that IVIG was the turning point for Johnny, and if we can do anything to help someone else get that treatment quickly, that’s really our goal,’ she said.