Conjunctival Attachment of a Live Paralysis Tick, Ixodes holocyclus, in a Child: A Case Report

Teong, Joanne M.Y.; Adler, P; Doggett, Stephen L.; Daneshvar, Dariush; Shields, Melissa K

doi:10.1159/000381743

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…But it has been revealed that chemical substances may cause irritation and encourage the tick to release infectious saliva as a reaction. The most effective technique is the mechanical intervention by using a blunt, medium-tip angled forceps, which is a quick, simple, and safe treatment modality, especially for conjunctival tick attachment [2,6,14] . If the tick attaches deeply into the host tissue, conjunctival excision is the best treatment modality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Conjunctival attachment of a live tick (Ixodes species) in an infant: a rare case report with literature review

Mohammed¹,

Abdulla

Mohammed

et al. 2022

IJS Short Reports

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Introduction: The attachment of the tick to the conjunctiva of the host is a very rare entity. This study aims to report a rare case of a tick attached to the conjunctiva of a 10-month-old male infant. Case presentation: A 10-month-old infant presented to the emergency department brought in by his parents with right eye redness for the past 8 hours owing to the attachment of an unknown foreign body to the conjunctiva. General clinical examination revealed that the child was conscious and alert; redness of the right eye was visible. Under an ophthalmic microscope, the foreign body was found to be a tick. The tick was gently removed with a sterilized blunt forceps. Seven days follow-up revealed no ophthalmic or systemic complications. Clinical discussion: The infestation of ticks to the ocular tissues is considered a very rare entity in the literature, and the major manifestations are vasculitis, uveitis, keratitis, and conjunctivitis. In addition, sometimes the infestation may appear as an eyelid margin tumor when the tick embeds in the meibomian gland orifice. Conclusion: Conjunctival tick attachment presenting with the symptoms of eye redness and itching is an uncommon entity. The proper management is the complete removal of the tick using a blunt, medium-tip, angled forceps.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although ticks are a recognized vector for disease spread through the penetration of the skin, their attachment to the conjunctiva is a rather infrequent entity with little mention in the literature. Only several cases of conjunctival tick bites have been reported in the literature [2,4,6] .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Conjunctival attachment of a live tick (Ixodes species) in an infant: a rare case report with literature review

Mohammed¹,

Abdulla

Mohammed

et al. 2022

IJS Short Reports

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“…In some cases, the tick was attached to children in unusual locations on the body, such as on the conjunctiva of the eye (Teong et al . 2015). Most of the time, however, the clinical notes provided no details on where on the body the tick was attached.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

30 years of samples submitted to an Australian Medical Entomology Department

et al. 2020

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Arthropods are the cause of considerable human morbidity. In spite of numerous text books and reviews published on arthropods of medical importance, this is the first paper in the world to present a comprehensive review of specimens sent to a medical entomology laboratory over an extended period. The Department of Medical Entomology at Westmead Hospital is the New South Wales reference laboratory for arthropods of medical importance. In the years 1988–2017, there were 5655 samples submitted for identification. Some 25 orders, 188 families and 177 different genera were recorded, with 170 unique species. The most common specimens included the Australian paralysis tick Ixodes holocyclus (708 specimens submitted), the bird mite Ornithonyssus bursa (506), bed bugs Cimex spp. (149), moth flies Clogmia spp. (135), head lice Pediculus capitis (105), pubic lice Pthirus pubis (91) and scabies Sarcoptes scabiei (57). In 1211 samples submitted, there was no evidence for any life stages of arthropods. For these common samples, data analysed included yearly and seasonal trends, female vs. male patient submissions and the age classes of the patients. Some species such as I. holocyclus, O. bursa, Cimex spp., Clogmia spp. and P. capitis demonstrated strong seasonal trends. In the case of the female vs. male patients, there were significant differences in submissions with O. bursa, P. capitis, P. pubis and with the samples containing no arthropod evidence. Of these, only with P. pubis did more males submit than females. Younger ages classes (<10 years) were more associated with I. holocyclus and P. capitis, older patients >70 years) with scabies, mature females (50–69 years) with samples containing no evidence of arthropods and middle‐aged adults (40–69) with the remainder of the common samples. Key diagnostic features are included for some of the more challenging arthropod species to distinguish and as well as case studies provided of situations involving unique or unusual infestations. The data provides useful information on the risks that arthropods of medical importance pose to the community and will refine educational programs.

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“…Larva of I. holocyclus cannot feed on humans; however, their attachments to humans usually cause no more than localized dermatitis. For example, a larva of I. holocyclus was found attached to right temporal conjunctiva of a 10-year-old boy from Sydney in New South Wales (Teong et al, 2015). The only symptoms developed were eye itch and conjunctival vessel dilatation around the organism.…”

Section: Other Tick-borne Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Tick-Borne Diseases in Australia

Dehhaghi

Panahi

Holmes

et al. 2019

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

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There are 17 human-biting ticks known in Australia. The bites of Ixodes holocyclus, Ornithodoros capensis, and Ornithodoros gurneyi can cause paralysis, inflammation, and severe local and systemic reactions in humans, respectively. Six ticks, including Amblyomma triguttatum, Bothriocroton hydrosauri, Haemaphysalis novaeguineae, Ixodes cornuatus, Ixodes holocyclus, and Ixodes tasmani may transmit Coxiella burnetii, Rickettsia australis, Rickettsia honei, or Rickettsia honei subsp. marmionii. These bacterial pathogens cause Q fever, Queensland tick typhus (QTT), Flinders Island spotted fever (FISF), and Australian spotted fever (ASF). It is also believed that babesiosis can be transmitted by ticks to humans in Australia. In addition, Argas robertsi, Haemaphysalis bancrofti, Haemaphysalis longicornis, Ixodes hirsti, Rhipicephalus australis, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks may play active roles in transmission of other pathogens that already exist or could potentially be introduced into Australia. These pathogens include Anaplasma spp., Bartonella spp., Burkholderia spp., Francisella spp., Dera Ghazi Khan virus (DGKV), tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), Lake Clarendon virus (LCV), Saumarez Reef virus (SREV), Upolu virus (UPOV), or Vinegar Hill virus (VINHV). It is important to regularly update clinicians' knowledge about tick-borne infections because these bacteria and arboviruses are pathogens of humans that may cause fatal illness. An increase in the incidence of tick-borne infections of human may be observed in the future due to changes in demography, climate change, and increase in travel and shipments and even migratory patterns of birds or other animals. Moreover, the geographical conditions of Australia are favorable for many exotic ticks, which may become endemic to Australia given an opportunity. There are some human pathogens, such as Rickettsia conorii and Rickettsia rickettsii that are not currently present in Australia, but can be transmitted by some human-biting ticks found in Australia, such as Rhipicephalus sanguineus, if they enter and establish in this country. Despite these threats, our knowledge of Australian ticks and tick-borne diseases is in its infancy.

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Conjunctival Attachment of a Live Paralysis Tick, Ixodes holocyclus, in a Child: A Case Report

Cited by 8 publications

References 9 publications

Conjunctival attachment of a live tick (Ixodes species) in an infant: a rare case report with literature review

Conjunctival attachment of a live tick (Ixodes species) in an infant: a rare case report with literature review

30 years of samples submitted to an Australian Medical Entomology Department

Human Tick-Borne Diseases in Australia

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