Topline
A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study found reported cases of babesiosis, a parasitic disease transported by ticks known to cause flu-like symptoms and even be fatal, more than doubled in some states between 2011 and 2019 as it spread primarily in the Northeast and parts of the Midwest.
A blacklegged tick can carry babesiosis. Image courtesy Centers for Disease Control (CDC) / James … [+]
Key Facts
Babesiosis, or Babesia microti, passes from rodents to humans by blacklegged ticks, but the parasite can also be passed from mothers to fetuses in the womb, and through infected blood transfusions and organ donations.
A CDC study published last week found cases of babesiosis increased in the United States between 2011 and 2019 and became endemic, or consistently prevalent, in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, in addition to Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, which were already endemic.
Of the 16,456 total cases of babesiosis reported to the CDC from 37 states between 2011 to 2019, the vast majority (16,174 cases) came from the 10 endemic states.
New York and Massachusetts had the largest number of reported cases of babesiosis between 2011 and 2019, with 4,738 and 4,136 total cases, respectively.
Vermont and New Hampshire had the lowest number of reported cases between 2011 and 2019, at 114 and 340 total cases, respectively.
Key Background
The most common symptoms of babesiosis mimic the flu, including fever, chills, sweats, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people with babesiosis don’t experience any symptoms, while others can experience life-threatening complications including fluctuating blood pressure, low red blood cell and platelet counts, problems with clotting and bleeding and malfunction of the kidneys, lungs and liver. Elderly people and people with weakened immune symptoms or serious conditions like kidney disease are more likely to experience complications from babesiosis. People without a spleen can also be at heightened risk, because the spleen helps filter the blood and clear out cells with parasites inside. People who get the parasite from blood transfusions have also been shown to have a higher risk of death and severe complications, the CDC reports.
Diagnosis and Treatment
Doctors diagnose babesiosis through a blood test, and are eventually treated with a combination of antibiotics and antimalarial drugs. People without symptoms usually don’t need to be treated.
Prevention
People can protect themselves in areas where ticks are common by wearing tick repellent and covering exposed skin on the legs and feet, staying on hiking paths and away from brush and grass where ticks are found, and periodically checking the skin for ticks.
How is babesiosis different than Lyme disease?
Babesiosis and Lyme disease are both transported by blacklegged ticks from rodents to humans. Both conditions can be contracted in the Midwest and on the Northeast coast and can be passed from mother to fetus and through tainted blood transfusions. While babesiosis is caused by a parasite, however, Lyme disease is usually caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. In its early stages, Lyme disease can cause headaches and fatigue like babesiosis but in 70% to 80% of cases, according to CDC estimates, Lyme disease manifests with a distinctive rash called erythema migrans around the spot where the tick entered the skin.
Further Reading
Trends in Reported Babesiosis Cases—United States, 2011-2019 (CDC)
Parasites—Babesiosis (CDC)
Lyme Isn’t the Only Tick Disease to Worry About in the Northeast, C.D.C Says (NYT)l
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywashburn/2023/03/22/what-to-know-about-babesiosis-another-tick-disease-not-lyme-spreading-quickly-in-northeast/