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Babesiosis treatment is often overlooked—especially in patients who also have Lyme disease. Babesiosis is a malaria-like illness caused by microscopic parasites that infect red blood cells. It’s frequently found alongside Lyme, but just as often, it’s missed. Unlike Lyme, which is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, babesiosis is caused by parasites (Babesia microti or […]

Babesia negative tests are one of the most common reasons patients go untreated. When a patient asks why I treat Babesia even if the tests are negative, they often say: “But my test was negative—why are we treating Babesia?” It’s a fair question. I’ll often explain that Babesia testing isn’t perfect. False negatives are common.

Babesia lyme treatment failure is more common than most patients realize. She wasn’t immunocompromised. So why was she still sick months after Lyme treatment? That was the question we kept coming back to. She’d been told Babesia wouldn’t be a problem—unless she had a weakened immune system. She didn’t. But she was still dealing with

Babesia blood transfusion transmission is more common than most people realize. When we think of tick-borne illnesses like Babesia, we often picture outdoor exposure in wooded, high-risk areas. But what happens when Babesia shows up in someone who hasn’t been outdoors—and hasn’t been bitten by a tick? One recent case reminds us that Babesia can

When Lyme treatment overlooks Babesia, patients stay sick. Babesia is increasingly recognized as a serious and sometimes overlooked tick-borne infection. While many patients and providers are aware of Lyme disease, they may not consider co-infections like Babesia—especially when symptoms persist after Lyme treatment. Here’s what you need to know. Case Study 1: Missed Co-Infection I

Preventing Chronic Lyme Disease: A Clinical Guide Preventing chronic Lyme disease has been a central focus of my clinical practice for more than 37 years. I have treated thousands of patients with tick-borne illness, and the pattern is consistent: while many recover fully with early recognition and appropriate treatment, others—despite receiving care—develop persistent, disabling symptoms

This summer, a 9-year-old boy in Canada developed Powassan virus encephalitis, a life-threatening condition. In Pennsylvania, another young child was hospitalized with the virus. And, in April, an older man from Massachusetts was infected. Meanwhile, last year, a Maryland resident died from Powassan encephalitis after contracting it in Canada. Powassan virus – transmitted in 15

Babesia bartonella co-infection is more common than previously recognized—and when it occurs in children, the symptoms can be devastating. New research using advanced testing methods found that 6 of 7 patients infected with Babesia were also co-infected with one or more Bartonella species. The cases included children with severe neuropsychiatric symptoms that went undiagnosed for

As this case report demonstrates, immunocompromised patients with Babesia may not respond to standard antimicrobial treatment, resulting in relapsing babesiosis. But investigators suggest that a combination of medications including Malarone shows promise for treatment-resistant patients. In their article “Atovaquone-Proguanil: A Promising Therapy for Persistent Relapsing Babesiosis,” Shahid and colleagues describe a case of relapsing babesiosis

Babesia elderly patients can present without the classic symptoms—and that’s what makes these cases so dangerous. In the article “An Atypical Case Presentation of Babesiosis,” Allen and colleagues describe a unique 75-year-old patient who contracted Babesiosis but did not exhibit many of the typical symptoms, such as night sweats, chills, shortness of breath and weight