THE MOTHER of a five-year-old boy who was admitted to hospital after falling ill with suspected Lyme disease is sharing his story to raise awareness of the incident she believes caused his symptoms to arise.

Adelle Bargate, says her son William was bitten twice in five days by ticks at a Conwy Council owned park on Llwynon Road, near the Great Orme in Llandudno.

Ms Bargate, 37, says the initial bite took place on March 22 and the tick was believed to have been stuck to William's head for around 36 hours. Three days later, he began to show flu-like symptoms including tiredness, headaches and a fever.

Following two previous visits to see a doctor, he was eventually admitted to hospital on March 30.

"The doctor had said that, as he didn't have any visible circular rashes associated with Lyme disease, it was thought he had just contracted a viral infection," Ms Bargate explained.

"But his symptoms were worsening and I was really concerned so I took him to A&E in Bangor on Saturday. He was taken to the children's ward where he was immediately sent for blood tests and that's when they said they were treating it as Lyme disease.

"Williams hair was quite long at the time so I hadn't noticed the tick until I bathed him and washed his hair. He was extremely poorly with a high temperature of 39 degrees plus, aching joints and couldn't move his neck for six days after the first visit to the doctors.

"It's really difficult to get a positive test of Lyme disease so as a precaution to his nasty symptoms he is now on a three week course of antibiotics."

North Wales Pioneer:

Lyme disease can often be spread by infected ticks that feed on the blood of humans and animals. These creatures are commonly found in woodland and grassy areas, as well as on livestock such as sheep and goats - regularly seen wandering around the Great Orme area.

Ms Bargate believes the increasing number of livestock living in the surrounding area could be to blame for giving her son the tick.

Ms Bargate added: "I’ve lived on the Orme for more than 16 years and I never had ticks pulled off me as a child. However, I think it's become a real problem of late, as I've heard numerous accounts of bites on local children in the last year.

"I feel as though I am the only person who is making a noise about the number of them around here. William is on the mend now with his medication but he is still not himself.

"I'm just hoping the right people will work to resolve the huge numbers of ticks we have here. We live on a small housing estate with at least 20 children who regularly play in the areas that are shared with goats and sheep.

"I just want to raise awareness and stop this from happening again, as it seems to be getting out of control."

Public Health Wales declined to comment due to patient confidentiality. Conwy Council have also approached for comment.