Study: 2 newborns on Long Island were sickened by tick bites
NEW YORKI (WABC) -- Two newborn babies on Long Island were diagnosed with rare illnesses after being bitten by ticks, according to a case study published Wednesday in the medical journal Pediatrics.
The first case was in June.
Doctors at Stony Brook Children's Hospital diagnosed a 6-week old boy with Babesiosis, a potentially deadly infection of red blood cells spread by ticks.
His mom remembered seeing a bloody "flea" on her son's arm three weeks earlier.
Then in August, doctors diagnosed a 5-week-old girl with Lyme disease, after her parents found a black bug in her ear.
The parents said the baby rarely went outside but they did have a dog.
Doctors say the two cases underscore just how quickly ticks are spreading and bringing diseases with them.
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