Bob Cowart's Blog

Lyme disease and Parkinson's disease

Pages

  • Home
  • About Lyme Disease
  • About Parkinson's Disease
  • About Bob
  • Disclaimer

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Babesia on the Rise

NY Times
June 23, 2011

Once Rare, Infection by Tick Bites Spreads

By LAURIE TARKAN
A potentially devastating infection caused by tick bites has gained a foothold in the Lower Hudson Valley and in coastal areas of the Northeast, government researchers have found.
Molecular characterization of Babesia

The condition, called babesiosis, is a malaria-like illness that results from infection with Babesia microti, a parasite that lives in red blood cells and is carried by deer ticks. Though far less common than Lyme disease, babesiosis can be fatal, particularly in people with compromised immune systems.

Because there is no widely used screening test for babesiosis, its spread poses a particular threat to the blood supply, scientists said. "We are very worried about it and are doing everything in our power to address this," said Sanjai Kumar, chief of the laboratory of emerging pathogens at the Food and Drug Administration.

According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were six cases of babesiosis in the Lower Hudson Valley in 2001 and 119 cases in 2008, a 20-fold increase. In areas where Lyme disease is endemic, like coastal Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island, babesiosis also is becoming very common, said Dr. Peter Krause, senior research scientist at the Yale School of Public Health.



In one study of residents of Block Island, R.I., Dr. Krause found babesiosis to be just 25 percent less common than Lyme disease. Babesiosis also is spreading slowly into other regions where it did not exist before, like the Upper Midwest, said Dr. Krause.

Many people who are infected with the parasite have no symptoms at all, while others experience mild to moderate flu-like symptoms that may last for a few days or as long as six months. "But some people get so sick that they wind up hospitalized, put into an intensive care unit, or even dying," said Dr. Gary Wormser, chief of infectious diseases at Westchester Medical Center in New York.

In states that track the disease, there are an estimated 1,000 reported cases a year, said Dr. Krause, but he and other experts believe this represents a fraction of the people who are infected. In the Block Island study, researchers tested about 70 percent of the islanders and found that about one quarter of adults and half of children who were infected had no symptoms and were therefore not reported. Even people with mild to moderate symptoms may never see a physician. Even if they do, the condition may not be accurately diagnosed.

Reported cases (Stanford U.)
Experts fear that many undiagnosed patients may be donating blood. Currently, blood banks do not screen for Babesia because the Food and Drug Administration has not licensed a test for this purpose. The only way to screen a patient is by using a questionnaire, which simply asks blood donors if they are infected.

Babesiosis already is the most frequently reported infection transmitted through transfusion in the United States, responsible for at least 12 deaths. In New York City, six transfusion-associated cases of babesiosis were reported in 2009. Infection by this route can be serious: One study found approximately 30 percent of people who were infected by a transfusion died.

Between 1999 and 2007, several infants in Rhode Island developed babesiosis following blood transfusions. The Rhode Island Blood Center has become the first in the country to use an experimental new test to screen blood for the parasite.

Experts urge blood transfusion patients and their doctors to be aware of symptoms of babesiosis, which can occur up to nine weeks after a transfusion.

The symptoms can be vague (there is no tell-tale rash as there may be with Lyme disease) and include fever, sweats, chills, headache, fatigue, and muscle aches and pains. In people who also have Lyme disease, doctors might suspect babesiosis if the symptoms are particularly severe or the antibiotics are not working, said Dr. Krause. A diagnosis can be confirmed through blood testing.

Infants and adults over age 50 are more likely to get moderate to severe symptoms if infected. People at increased risk of complications include patients with compromised immune systems (such as people receiving immunosuppressants), those who've had their spleens removed, and those with lymphoma or H.I.V. or who are being treated for cancer.

If not caught and treated early, babesiosis can lead to such complications as kidney, lung or heart failure. The infection can be treated with antimicrobial medications, but people with serious complications are less responsive to the drugs.

Why the parasite is spreading and why it's spreading more slowly than Lyme disease are not well understood. One theory is that Babesia may be carried primarily in mice, which don't tend to travel far afield. The bacterium causing Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, can be carried by birds.
Posted by Bob at 7:54 PM
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Labels: Lyme disease

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please be constructive in your comments.

Newer Post Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

.......................

.......................
'Blog' Cowart

Search This Blog

Click a Topic

  • Acupuncture (1)
  • Affordable Lyme Treatment (3)
  • ALS (5)
  • Alternative medicine (9)
  • Alzheimer's (1)
  • Alzheimer's disease (9)
  • anaplasmosis (1)
  • antibiotics (1)
  • B. burgdorferi (1)
  • B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (1)
  • babesiosis (4)
  • Bartonella (4)
  • berries (1)
  • biofilm (1)
  • borellia (2)
  • borrelia (3)
  • Borrelia miyamotoi (1)
  • Canada (1)
  • cardiac Lyme (4)
  • carditis (1)
  • cat scratch (1)
  • Cats (1)
  • CFS (3)
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (2)
  • coinfections (4)
  • Colloidal Silver (1)
  • Computers (9)
  • confections (1)
  • Connection between Lyme and neurodegenerative diseases (2)
  • depression (11)
  • Detox (11)
  • dopamine (1)
  • enzymes (2)
  • Exercise (3)
  • Fibromyalgia (8)
  • FM (4)
  • Gadgets (5)
  • GcMAF (1)
  • General Health (31)
  • Glutathione therapy (4)
  • Gluten sensitivity (1)
  • Headache (2)
  • humor (1)
  • Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBOT) (8)
  • IDSA (3)
  • IDSA vs ILADS (1)
  • immune system (1)
  • Inflammation (8)
  • Ixodes ricinus (1)
  • ixodes scapularis (1)
  • Kaiser (1)
  • lone star tick (1)
  • lyme (64)
  • Lyme books (2)
  • Lyme carditis (2)
  • Lyme deaths (4)
  • Lyme diagnosis (10)
  • Lyme disease (196)
  • Lyme disease testing (43)
  • Lyme in other countries (1)
  • Lyme Legislation (4)
  • Lyme politics (6)
  • lyme prevention (4)
  • Lyme research (6)
  • Lyme testing (7)
  • lyme tick testing (1)
  • lyme vaccine (2)
  • Medical Insurance (10)
  • meditation (1)
  • Mercury detox (12)
  • Misc (1)
  • misdiagnosis (2)
  • miyamotoi (2)
  • mold (1)
  • Movie review (1)
  • MS (1)
  • My Books (2)
  • Pacific Coast tick (1)
  • PANDAS (1)
  • Parkinson's disease (68)
  • PD (17)
  • Personal check-in (10)
  • Pets (1)
  • Politics (2)
  • Powassan virus (2)
  • Prius (5)
  • probiotics (2)
  • Psychiatric Lyme (1)
  • Rickettsia philipii (1)
  • Search for the perfect bed (7)
  • sexual transmission of Lyme (2)
  • skin (1)
  • sleep (1)
  • Sleep apnea (1)
  • speech recognition (1)
  • Spiritual stuff (5)
  • Standards of Care (1)
  • STARI (1)
  • Stem Cell research (4)
  • sugar (1)
  • suicide (2)
  • ticks (3)
  • Toxo (1)
  • Toxoplasmosis (1)

Blog Archive

  • ►  2021 (5)
    • ►  April (5)
  • ►  2020 (27)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  September (4)
    • ►  August (6)
    • ►  July (5)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  April (2)
    • ►  February (3)
    • ►  January (2)
  • ►  2019 (44)
    • ►  December (3)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  August (6)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  April (9)
    • ►  March (8)
    • ►  February (6)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2018 (47)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  October (3)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  August (9)
    • ►  July (9)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (8)
    • ►  April (4)
    • ►  March (3)
    • ►  February (3)
    • ►  January (4)
  • ►  2017 (79)
    • ►  December (2)
    • ►  November (5)
    • ►  October (4)
    • ►  September (4)
    • ►  August (9)
    • ►  July (6)
    • ►  June (6)
    • ►  May (11)
    • ►  April (7)
    • ►  March (14)
    • ►  February (4)
    • ►  January (7)
  • ►  2016 (94)
    • ►  December (3)
    • ►  October (3)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  August (7)
    • ►  July (7)
    • ►  June (13)
    • ►  May (15)
    • ►  April (11)
    • ►  March (7)
    • ►  February (9)
    • ►  January (18)
  • ►  2015 (236)
    • ►  December (11)
    • ►  November (16)
    • ►  October (9)
    • ►  September (13)
    • ►  August (26)
    • ►  July (30)
    • ►  June (23)
    • ►  May (34)
    • ►  April (19)
    • ►  March (20)
    • ►  February (23)
    • ►  January (12)
  • ►  2014 (251)
    • ►  December (17)
    • ►  November (18)
    • ►  October (15)
    • ►  September (24)
    • ►  August (14)
    • ►  July (26)
    • ►  June (25)
    • ►  May (32)
    • ►  April (17)
    • ►  March (18)
    • ►  February (26)
    • ►  January (19)
  • ►  2013 (186)
    • ►  December (23)
    • ►  November (20)
    • ►  October (28)
    • ►  September (16)
    • ►  August (25)
    • ►  July (24)
    • ►  June (18)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  April (6)
    • ►  March (7)
    • ►  February (6)
    • ►  January (10)
  • ►  2012 (116)
    • ►  December (6)
    • ►  November (6)
    • ►  October (7)
    • ►  September (6)
    • ►  August (10)
    • ►  July (13)
    • ►  June (12)
    • ►  May (20)
    • ►  April (13)
    • ►  March (3)
    • ►  February (12)
    • ►  January (8)
  • ▼  2011 (131)
    • ►  December (12)
    • ►  November (9)
    • ►  October (4)
    • ►  September (13)
    • ►  August (17)
    • ►  July (16)
    • ▼  June (24)
      • "Push" Rocephin Instead of the Usual Drip Method?
      • Bob Inserts His Huber Needle and Begins Infusion
      • Largest Lyme Survey Ever
      • Lyme Info from New Hampshire Dept of Health
      • Lyme on NPR
      • Buck Institute studies lithium as treatment for Pa...
      • Babesia on the Rise
      • Monthly Mercury Detox Group in Berkeley
      • Lyme Disease Symptoms: Key Facts About This Myster...
      • New Blog by Gordon Medical Associates
      • New Lyme Book by Richard Ostfeld
      • Arm and Foot Tremors as of 6-21-11
      • Filarial Worms Found in Ticks - Should Humans Get ...
      • Lyme update 6-20-11
      • What Do You Do If You Have Lyme Disease?
      • Latest Pesticide Info from EWG
      • Lyme Disease Radio Show on KQED "Forum"
      • Find a Lyme Doctor
      • New UC Davis study says Lyme hides out in lymph nodes
      • Move Like a Hunter-Gatherer, Live Longer
      • Curious Reduction in Tremor Post Indigestion
      • Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac
      • Sleep Shortage Saps Immune Systems, Worsens Parkin...
      • Cell Phones: Cancer Risk?
    • ►  May (29)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (3)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2010 (18)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  November (5)
    • ►  October (4)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  April (5)
  • ►  2009 (3)
    • ►  September (3)
  • ►  2008 (2)
    • ►  May (2)
  • ►  2007 (11)
    • ►  December (2)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  February (6)
© Robert D. Cowart ✎. Powered by Blogger.