Cases of a potentially fatal tick-borne parasitic disease that can cause paralysis are increasing.
According to researchers, babesiosis, also known as “American malaria,” has increased by an average of 9 percent each year in the U.S. between 2015 and 2022.
In addition, two in five of these patients were also found to be infected with Lyme disease or another tick-borne disease.
Although the tick-borne disease is mainly found in the northeastern and mid-western states of the US, the tick-borne disease also reached Britain four years ago
Babesiosis, caused by a parasite called Babesia microti, carried in the saliva of ticks, which from there begin to infect a person’s red blood cells and destroy them.
According to researchers, babesiosis, also known as “American malaria,” has increased by an average of 9 percent each year in the U.S. between 2015 and 2022.
The disease is caused by a single-celled organism that attacks red blood cells when it infects people
Although a healthy adult can normally shake off the infection, it can be fatal in older adults and in people with health problems or treatments that weaken their immune systems and are particularly at risk.
Like malaria, the parasite infects red blood cells, causing anemia, and the condition has many similar clinical symptoms.
While about two-thirds of people with the infection have no symptoms, those who do develop them in two stages.
First, those infected experience a flu-like illness such as fever, headache and fatigue.
It then progresses to a more serious second stage in which the body’s central nervous system becomes disrupted, leading to spinal cord and brain problems such as meningitis, encephalitis and paralysis.
Although most cases are caused by tick bites, less common ways of becoming infected with babesiosis include receiving a blood transfusion containing the parasite or a mother having the infection passing it to her baby during pregnancy.
Changes in temperature, humidity, rainfall and length of the season may have affected the population and distribution of ticks in the US and across Europe, as well as the population of animals that serve as reservoir hosts, such as deer.
As a result, ticks may be present in a larger geographic area.
Removing a tick from your own skin is critical to preventing the risk of infection or contracting other diseases, including Lyme disease. The NHS has a four-step routine to safely identify and remove ticks
Although rare in Britain, cases of babesiosis have been reported and the charity Lyme Disease Action says it is another disease that both clinicians and the public need to be aware of.
Health officials confirmed a case of the tick-born disease in Britain on July 31, 2020 in Devon.
Lyme disease – another tick-borne illness that causes circular rashes around the bite, as well as fever, headaches and fatigue – affects thousands of Britons every year.
The bacterium was found in more than 1,000 people across the country in 2022.
But in addition to these laboratory-confirmed cases, there are an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 additional cases of the bacterial infection each year.
As a result, the charity Lyme Disease UK says 3,000 to 4,000 people in England and Wales are affected every year.
Preliminary ONS data for 2021 shows there were 1,156 laboratory-confirmed cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales
The study published in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases assessed the prevalence of the disease and the consequences of patients infected with multiple tick-borne diseases.
Using TriNetX, a large national database of clinical patient data on more than 250 million individuals, they identified 3,521 people infected with babesiosis between October 2015 and December 2022.
The researchers found that the incidence of babesiosis increased by an average of 9 percent per year.
The majority of cases peaked during the summer months and were reported in the northeastern states. Of those diagnosed with babesiosis, 42 percent were infected with one or more tick-borne diseases, which is a higher percentage than what has been found in previous studies.
The largest percentage of these patients, 41 percent, were co-infected with the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease.
The map above shows states in the US that have reported cases of babesiosis and the prevalence of the disease. The disease is endemic in states in the Northeast, Midwest and West, and has also been observed in the South
This graph, provided by the CDC, shows how many cases of babesiosis are recorded in the US each year. While there were just over 1,000 cases in 2011, this has now grown to 2,500
When researchers examined whether infection with two tick-borne diseases led to worse outcomes, they found that there were no significant differences between the babesiosis-only group and the co-infection group.
However, when they looked at mortality risk, they found that the risk of death was higher among the babesiosis-only group.
“Having both babesiosis and Lyme disease did not appear to be associated with worse mortality,” said Paddy Ssentongo, infectious disease fellow, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and lead author of the study.
He added that the finding was surprising. He said: ‘It is speculated that the simultaneous presence of other tick-borne infections in the blood could alter the immune response by potentially ‘boosting’ it to effectively fight infections.’
However, this difference in outcomes may be a result of the way the tick-borne diseases are treated.
In their study, the team found that the co-infection group was more likely to be prescribed doxycycline, the first-line antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis, compared to the group given babesiosis alone.
What researchers suggested might suggest that the drug doxycycline is also effective in treating the babesia parasite.
Currently, the treatment of babesiosis depends on the severity of the disease.
Treatment usually involves a combination of the antibiotics azithromycin and atovaquone.
Red blood cell exchange, in which abnormal red blood cells are removed and replaced with healthy ones, may also be considered in critically ill patients, such as those with severe organ dysfunction.
“For patients with babesiosis, we add doxycycline while we investigate whether or not the patient has Lyme disease or other tick-borne diseases, and we have seen better results with this approach at our medical center,” said Dr. Ssentongo.
He said there are other case reports where babesiosis has been successfully treated with doxycycline. However, more research is needed to understand the physiological pathways underlying co-infection and how this could influence treatment protocols.
But the most effective treatment approach is to prevent tick-borne diseases in the first place, said Dr. Ssentongo.
To prevent tick-borne diseases, wear long-sleeved shirts, pants, and light-colored clothing. It is also recommended to use tick repellents and check for ticks after spending time outdoors.