As a rare tick-borne disease is on the rise in the northeastern United States, a local professor is awaiting test results to confirm whether babesiosis has taken hold in Keystone State.
Pennsylvania has one of the worst cases of Lyme disease in the nation, and concerns about its prevalence have led to an increase in awareness campaigns about tick bite prevention.
Babesiosis, which is also transmitted by tick bites, is rarely mentioned. However, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the disease seems to be appearing more often.
CDC scientists who tracked trends in the United States from 2011 to 2019 confirmed a “significant” increase in babesiosis cases in northeastern states.
“Three states that were not considered endemic for babesiosis (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont) experienced significant increases in incidence that were similar to or similar to seven states with known endemic transmission. More cases have been reported,” the report said.
Babesiosis is a parasitic disease that infects red blood cells. It is primarily carried by the same deer mouse that is also Lyme’s primary vector, passing it on to ticks, which can infect humans.
“It’s caused by a protozoan parasite,” said Daniel Tufts, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. “It’s a malaria-like pathogen that lives in red blood cells. may be harmful to
Between 2011 and 2019, approximately 16,500 cases of babesiosis were reported to CDC from 37 states, including approximately 16,200 (98%) reported from the 10 states included in this analysis. New York reported the most cases (4738 total), followed by Massachusetts (4136) and Connecticut (2200).
The survey included New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Tufts is awaiting the results of field tick surveys in the area to see if babesiosis is on the rise in the area. Those results are expected later this month.
a 2020 research Data were obtained from approximately 700 mammals collected in central Pennsylvania, published in the journal Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. Babesia (32%) was more prevalent than the spirochete B. burgdorferi (21%), which causes Lyme disease.
The authors of this study characterize babesiosis as an “emerging pathogen” in Pennsylvania that requires further research.
According to the CDC, most people with babesiosis are fine and have no symptoms. Some people develop flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, sweating, headache, body aches, loss of appetite, nausea, and fatigue. May cause anemia.
Tufts said more attention should be paid to testing for babesiosis when people are seeking treatment for tick bites.
“Most people recover[from babesiosis]and some are asymptomatic,” she said. “But one of the main problems is that we hear a lot about Lyme. Lyme disease and babesiosis have very similar reactions, such as fever and fatigue, and require different drugs to treat them.”
Patrick Varine is a staff writer for Tribune-Review. You can reach Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or on his Twitter. .
