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Tafenoquine babesia treatment offers hope for patients who don’t respond to standard medications. A 36-year-old man was hospitalized in 2019 due to unexplained fevers he had been having for two weeks. He was later diagnosed with Babesia with 8.5% of his blood showing the parasite. He had been diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis in 2001 […]

Babesia immunocompromised patients face elevated risks — and this case shows why clinicians must consider tick-borne infections even in children undergoing cancer treatment. A 5-year-old with leukemia developed both Babesia and Anaplasmosis after a tick bite. “A 5-year-old male with National Cancer Institute (NCI) standard risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), in remission and receiving

According to the authors, the woman experienced a “sudden onset of severe, lancinating headache in the distribution of the fifth cranial nerve bilaterally.”¹ She had been treated for Lyme disease two months earlier following a tick bite and a rash on her torso. She had since been bitten by a non-engorged tick. Her neurologic exam

Babesiosis missed diagnosis can have dire consequences — especially when patients have both Lyme disease and Babesia. This case highlights why clinicians must consider co-infection in tick-endemic areas. The woman had a three-week history of a fever (maximum temperature, 104°F), chills, nausea, and productive cough of yellow sputum. Six weeks prior to her onset of

This Powassan virus meningoencephalitis case describes a patient who presented to the hospital with fevers, headaches, fatigue, and a history of night sweats, according to the case report, “Powassan Meningoencephalitis: A Case Report Highlighting Diagnosis and Management.” He had a history of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), Lyme disease, and reactive arthritis. He was not on

Tick bite co-infections are more common than many realize. A single tick can transmit multiple pathogens simultaneously, leading to complex illness that’s difficult to diagnose and treat. This case demonstrates how one man developed three tick-borne infections from a single bite. “Two days after noting this ankle lesion, the patient noticed an erythematous rash on

Borrelia miyamotoi (B. miyamotoi) was first reported in the United States in 2013 but has become increasingly more common. So, what is Borrelia miyamotoi? The tick-borne illness can be transmitted by the same tick that carries Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease pathogen. In their article, Della-Giustina and colleagues² address the question, “What is Borrelia miyamotoi?”

Untreated babesia is a troubling reality for some patients—even when tests come back positive. In his article, Wormser discusses the case of a 61-year-old woman who went untreated for a Babesia infection, despite positive test results. The patient, who lives in Westchester, NY, a highly endemic area for Lyme disease, reportedly removed an unidentified tick

Babesia odocoilei has been identified in two individuals based on PCR testing and DNA sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene, writes Scott and colleagues in the study “Detection of Babesia odocoilei in Humans with Babesiosis Symptoms.” This is the first report of this species causing illness in people. According to the authors, “the same two