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An uptick in babesiosis could mean more donated blood is contaminated with the parasite.
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—While Lyme disease hogs most of the media spotlight on tick diseases, another nasty infection is stealing significant headline space this summer. Babesiosis, a malaria-like disease from the microscopic babesia parasite, is gaining ground in the United States—particularly in the Northeast and Midwest—and may be more of a problem than previously believed.
In fact, researchers with the Red Cross and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed blood donation cases and discovered dozens of babesiosis transmission through tainted blood transfusions, and those infections have increased over the past decade. The Red Cross found that 70 cases of Babesia infections were transmitted through blood transfusions from 1979 to 2007, and most of those occurred within the last 10 years. The CDC study, which lasted 31 years, found similar results. They uncovered nearly 162 cases of babseiosis transmitted through blood transfusions between 1979 and 2009, 80 percent of which occurred in the past decade. Unfortunately, no screening tests can currently detect the bug in blood donations.
Babesiosis is particularly nasty because the germ burrows into humans' red blood cells, causing anemia, extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, and sometimes life-threatening symptoms. Researchers have also discovered that Lyme and babesiosis can both trigger panic attacks, anxiety, and depression.
Read more:
Off-the-Charts Anxiety: Is a Tick Bite Making You Nuts?
Newly Notable Tick-Carried Disease Is on the Rise…and It's Not Lyme
Just like Lyme disease, babesiosis can be tough to diagnose in a patient, since tests for it aren't always reliable. So your best bet is to keep the main transmitters of the bug—ticks—out of your yard and off of your body.
Quick tips to trick ticks:
• Suds up. In 2009, Yale researchers discovered that people who showered within two hours of being in the yard significantly lowered their risk of falling victim to Lyme disease. A quick shower can knock a tick off of your body before the tiny bloodsucker gets a chance to latch on.
• Get rid of ticks with gravel. High grass and wooded areas often harbor ticks. Put a gravel buffer between these areas and your yard to deter ticks and their hosts—such as mice—off of your lawn.
For more ideas, read 5 Ways to Keep Lyme Disease out of Your Yard.
They uncovered nearly 162
They uncovered nearly 162 cases of babseiosis transmitted through blood transfusions between 1979 and 2009, 80 percent of which occurred in the past decade. Unfortunately, no screening tests can currently detect the bug in blood donations. wholesale LED spot lighting
I think to avoid this kind of
I think to avoid this kind of disease is to accept donors who are physically fit and doesn't have any tattoo printed on their bodies. Anyway, if you need any plumbing services have a visit at Plumber Virginia Beach VA.
Tick- borne Diseases
Please note that there is a third disease carried by ticks. I live in Connecticut and my husband was diagnosed with Anaplasmosis in July. When he went to have his blood tested, because he had been so ill, he asked that he be tested for Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis and Lyme. The doctor refused and said they would only test for Lyme. If that was negative, then they would retest for Anaplasmosis and Babesiosis. What is wrong with this picture? No wonder so many people who are tested for Lyme get negative results! They've got another tick-borne disease! Luckily Anaplasmosis is sensitive to Doxycycline, but not so with Babesiosis. I think it's high time that every time you have bloodwork done you automatically get tested for the tick-borne diseases. They can be deadly.