Rocky Mountain saw his toddler unconscious for nearly a week after the bite of a tick

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – A Kentucky mother warns parents to become aware of ticks this summer after her infant has lost consciousness for a week because of a potentially dangerous tick-borne disease.

"We could not get him to do anything, and if you touched him, he was screaming," Kayla Oblisk said of her 2-year-old son Jackson. "My child would not get up, he would not eat, he would not drink."

Oblisk did not initially think that the bite was a big problem until Jackson developed a fever of up to 105 degrees. He had contracted a rare disease called Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and had fallen into a coma.

"I had learned that you usually see death on the eighth day." "That's when the organs begin to fail," said Oblisk. "When we brought him to the hospital, it was the seventh day."

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is a bacterial disease transmitted by the bite of an infected tick. Symptoms include fever, rashes, and headaches, and it can be fatal if it is not treated with antibiotics.

Ticks can also cause other diseases. Each year, approximately 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to the CDC by state health departments and the District of Columbia. But studies suggest that the actual number of people diagnosed each year with Lyme disease in the United States is around 300,000.

Experts warn that ticks are most active during the warm months from April to September.

To protect your family, check that there are no ticks as soon as you get back inside. Wear clothes with built-in repellent against ticks, use a tick repellent spray and take a shower within two hours of leaving an outdoor area to remove unglued ticks.

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