Marilyn O'Dowd had been bitten by ticks before with no consequence, but a single bite in July left the avid gardener sick and struggling to function normally.
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“I knew there was something in my hair so I scratched it out,” Mrs O”Dowd said.
“I had had a lot of ticks before, it was a brown bush tick and very small, less than two millimetres in diameter, like a pin head.”
Within 24 hours Mrs O”Dowd’s health began to deteriorate.
“My ear became very swollen and itchy, then it spread across the back of my head and the other ear became swollen,” she said.
“I developed an itchy rash which looked like measles down my back, stomach and legs as far as my knees, it was so terrible.”
Other symptoms included a lack of energy, nausea, loss of appetite and with swollen glands.
“It was gradual, it took a week and a half to reach the peak symptoms,” Mrs O”Dowd said.
“I’m a gardener and outside a lot and I had never had a reaction like that before.
“I kept going back to the doctors and they really didn’t know what it was, the blood test showed I was reacting to something.
“I had to see the disease specialist and they thought it was an allergic reaction, however I felt it was more of a bacterial infection rather than an allergy.”
The symptoms persevered for more than two months following the bite.
“It’s taken a long time to get over and it’s possible the same thing could happen again,” Mrs O”Dowd said.
“I’m a naturopath and healthy, so I imagine how someone with a poor immune system would struggle.”
