'Things could have been awful' Mum warns other parents of symptoms of Lyme disease

A mum has posted a health warning to Facebook, alerting other parents to the dangers of Lyme disease and urging them to familiarise themselves with the symptoms.

Megan Hooe took to Facebook to share the important message with other parents after noticing a strange rash on her daughter's shoulder.

The mum-of-one recalls in her post how she could have easily mistaken the large round mark as a 'typical bug bite', but after seeking some further advice she found out it was a classic sign of Lyme disease.

Megan wrote, 'To all the moms and dads out there in Facebook land. Most of you already know this but for those of you that don't (I didn't) ......consider this a public service announcement.

'I found this round mark on Kadence today and took my moms advice and ran her to the doctor. Turned out to be a tick bite and baby girl has Lyme disease.'

She continued to explain that her daughter will need to take 'heavy duty meds' for some weeks, but luckily will completely recover.

'A few weeks of heavy duty meds and she should be all good. But, had I ignored the 'bullseye' rash and brushed it off as a typical bug bite, things could have been awful.

https://www.facebook.com/meghan.hooe/posts/10213611341057681

'So, if you see this round rash on your little one, go see a doc right away!!Thank goodness my momma is a nurse!!!!'

As Megan had hoped, the post has gone viral, reaching many parents and no doubt spreading awareness of the disease. So far her 'service announcement' has gained over 375k shares.

Many parents have commented on the post sharing their own stories and expressing gratitude to the mum for posting the picture of the circular rash.

One Facebook user wrote, 'Ty for this important info. I would of initially thought the same as you. Lymes is on all time high. Wishing her speedy recovery and treatment.'

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10213680078576076&set=a.1647713592544.2089316.1228061581&type=3&theater

Whilst another said, 'Oh man! I'm so sorry that she got a tick bite I hope she feels better soon. I appreciate you showing what it looks like as I have never seen one. I have heard that for some reason the ticks are out this year big time. I'm so happy you got to this quickly, Lyme disease is no joke!'

A third referenced their own unfortunate experience, 'yeah I got lime disease when I was 12 unfortunately once you have it you have it for life.'

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread by ticks, so is most commonly picked up in the countryside. The main symptoms are a red 'bullseye' rash, flu-like symptoms, a temperature and muscle pain.