Bit by a tick and feel sick? It may be babesiosis
June 29, 2011
by CBNews.com
We've all heard about Lyme disease, but did you know that there is
another important infection spread by the same tick - and it can be
fatal?
It's called Babesiosis. And it's probably the most serious blood
disease that you've never heard of with a nearly 20 percent mortality
rate for people with compromised immune systems. And, as CBS News
Correspondent Debbye Turner Bell reported, medical professionals say
it's on the rise.
Tick season is here. This time of year, Bell reported, brings bad
memories for Jennifer Hertsled.
"I felt like I had the flu. Just really terrible like I had mono
practically, like I couldn't keep on going," said Hertsled, who got
babesioisis most likely after her cat brought a tick into the house.
While Hertsled knew that ticks could carry Lyme disease, she never
heard of babesiosis.
What led her to finally go to a doctor?
"I went to a barbecue and actually fainted. I mean I passed out
fainted, I had never fainted in my life," she said.
Babesiosis is contracted from the same black-legged deer tick that
transmits Lyme disease, but it doesn't have Lyme's telltale bull's-eye
rash.
"Of the hospitalized patients with severe babesiosis, 1 in 20 has
died," Dr. Gary Wormser, chief of infectious diseases at New York's
Westchester Medical Center pointed out.
Babesiosis is prevalent in the northeast and the upper Midwest
locations where Lyme disease also occurs.
But unlike Lyme disease, babesiosis can be transmitted through both a
tick bite and a blood transfusion. The Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) says it's the No. 1 infection submitted into the blood supply.
That's why the Rhode Island Blood Center has taken drastic measures
becoming the only center in the country to screen for babesia, the
parasite that causes babesiosis.
"About 25 percent of adults don't have any symptoms whatsoever. If
they donate blood, they may transmit it to the person getting blood
transfusions, added Wormser.
Babesiosis is a serious problem and both doctors and victims like
Hertsled urge people to take notice.
"I should have listened to my body sooner and done something about
it," Hertsled admitted. "It's got to be taken care of; it's got to be
caught."
The FDA says it's working to develop the best screening test for
babesia. In the meantime, doctors say if you are exposed to ticks and
aren't feeling well, ask your doctor to test for babesiosis in
addition to Lyme disease.
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