Human Babesiosis on Nantucket Island

Ruebush, Trenton K.; Juranek, Dennis D.; Chisholm, Emily S.; Snow, Patricia; Healy, George R.; Sulzer, Alexander J.

doi:10.1056/nejm197710132971511

Cited by 158 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…When present, symptoms typically are nonspecific (fever, headache, and myalgia) [8]. Human babesiosis is a zoonosis, and the natural acquisition of human disease is the result of interactions with established zoonotic cycles.…”

Section: What Is Babesiosis?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Babesia: An Emerging Infectious Threat in Transfusion Medicine

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: What Is Babesiosis?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Babesia: An Emerging Infectious Threat in Transfusion Medicine

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…These cases typically begin with a gradual onset of malaise and fatigue followed by intermittent fever and one or more of the following: chills, sweats, headache, arthralgia, myalgia, anorexia, cough, and nausea (Table 1) [30, 52–54]. Less commonly noted are gastrointestinal symptoms, weight loss, conjunctival injection, and emotional lability [53–57]. On physical examination, fever is commonly observed and pallor, mild splenomegaly or hepatomegaly occasionally may be noted.…”

Section: Clinical Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On physical examination, fever is commonly observed and pallor, mild splenomegaly or hepatomegaly occasionally may be noted. The illness usually lasts for a week to months, occasionally with prolonged recovery that can last more than a year [30, 36, 53, 56, 57]. Parasitemia may continue even after the patient feels well and rarely may persist for more than two years after the initial episode [36].…”

Section: Clinical Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Update on Babesiosis

Vannier

Krause

2009

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases

109

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Human babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne infectious disease caused by intraerythrocytic protozoan species of the genus Babesia with many clinical features similar to those of malaria. Over the last 50 years, the epidemiology of human babesiosis has changed from a few isolated cases to the establishment of endemic areas in the northeastern and midwestern United States. Episodic cases are reported in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. The severity of infection ranges from asymptomatic infection to fulminant disease resulting in death, although the majority of healthy adults experience a mild-to-moderate illness. People over the age of 50 years and immunocompromised individuals are at the highest risk of severe disease, including those with malignancy, HIV, lacking a spleen, or receiving immunosuppressive drugs. Asymptomatic carriers present a blood safety risk when they donate blood. Definitive diagnosis of babesial infection generally is made by microscopic identification of the organism on thin blood smear, amplification of Babesia DNA using PCR, and detection of Babesia antibody in acute and convalescent sera. Specific antimicrobial therapy consists of atovaquone and azithromycin or clindamycin and quinine. Exchange transfusion is used in severe cases. The use of multiple prevention strategies is recommended and consists of personal, residential, and community approaches.

show abstract

“…The severity of Babesiosis ranges from asymptomatic or mild, self-limited febrile illness [5, 7] to potentially life threatening infection and may have a complicated clinical course especially in people with certain risk factors such as those with splenectomy, cancer, human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV), chronic heart, lung, or live disease, or patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy [8]. A trend of increasing frequency of transfusion mediated babesiosis since the early 2000s was noted in recent studies [6, 9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Babesiosis in Long Island: review of 62 cases focusing on treatment with azithromycin and atovaquone

Kletsova

Spitzer

Fries

et al. 2017

Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundBabesiosis is a potentially life-threatening, tick-borne infection endemic in New York. The purpose of this study was to review recent trends in babesiosis management and outcomes focusing on patients, who were treated with combination of azithromycin and atovaquone.MethodsA retrospective chart review of patients seen at Stony Brook University Hospital between 2008 and 2014 with peripheral blood smears positive for Babesia was performed. Clinical and epidemiological information was recorded and analyzed.Results62 patients had confirmed babesiosis (presence of parasitemia). Forty six patients (74%) were treated exclusively with combination of azithromycin and atovaquone; 40 (87%) of these patients were hospitalized, 11 (28%) were admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 1 (2%) died. Majority of patients presented febrile with median temperature 38.5 °C. Median peak parasitemia among all patients was 1.3%, and median parasitemia among patients admitted to ICU was 5.0%. Six patients (15%) required exchange transfusion. Majority of patients (98%) improved and were discharged from hospital or clinic.ConclusionSymptomatic babesiosis is still rare even in endemic regions. Recommended treatment regimen is well tolerated and effective. Compared to historical controls we observed a lower overall mortality.

show abstract

Human Babesiosis on Nantucket Island

Cited by 158 publications

References 5 publications

Babesia: An Emerging Infectious Threat in Transfusion Medicine

Babesia: An Emerging Infectious Threat in Transfusion Medicine

Update on Babesiosis

Babesiosis in Long Island: review of 62 cases focusing on treatment with azithromycin and atovaquone

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About