Lyme disease is not the only tick-borne disease that those who venture outside during the summer can contract. Babesiosis is a parasite carried by the same deer tick as Lyme disease.
The parasite attacks red blood cells and causes flu-like symptoms, including headache, fatigue, fever, and muscle aches and pains. But many people show no symptoms and are not aware they carry the parasite. In both cases, the parasite can persist in the blood for months or even years.
The lack of symptoms and persistence in the blood is raising concerns about the blood supplied. The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) says that more than 100 cases of babesiosis transmitted by blood transfusions have been documented. There is no good test for the disease in blood donations.
Estimates of how many people are affected by babesiosis vary from 1,000 a year to 29,000. The disease was first documented in Massachusetts in 1969 and in most prevalent in the northeast, although it is slowly spreading to the upper Midwest.
The disease can be deadly to the elderly, those with HIV, and others with compromised immune systems. In those populations, 10 to 20 percent of those infected with babesiosis die from complications such as organ failure.
Unlike Lyme disease, which can be carried by birds, babesiosis requires deer for its life cycle and is found only where deer are.
The CDC advises the following steps to prevent infection:
- - Use DEET repellent on clothing
- - Tuck pants into socks when outside
- - Carefully check for ticks after being outside
