Otoacariasis : A case report of 127 dog ticks in an infant ear canal

Brown dog tick in Thailand, originating in Africa, havewell adaptation and resistance in various environment. More than a thousand of eggs could be laid out from one female adult tick. However, they areunable to reproduce, hatch and live on human body. The dangerous disease are flaccid ascending paralysis caused by, neurotoxin in the saliva, and some kind of viral, rickettsial or bacterial infection such as spirochetal infection knowned as Lyme's disease (meningoradiculoneuritis). These condition may be fatal from progressive respiratory paralysis, if proper diagnosis and treatment are not established. Generally, most physicians found only few ticks in the ear canal that could be removed without any problems. The authors reported an unusual case of 127 dog ticks in right ear canal, consisting of engorged female, larvae and various stages of adult. This 7 months girl had no any complicated disease after 5 weeks of trying to remove the incidentai parasite. We also presented the biology and behavior of the dog ticks in our report compared to other studies. Chiang Mai Med Bull 1992;31:197-203.