Babesiosis

Babesiosis

Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment

UPDATE 2014- Babesia duncani (aka WA1) is detected in patients on the west coast (USA) where it was first discovered. Doctors have been finding WA1 infected patients across the USA and overseas, and some are also infected with the Babesia microti strain. Babesia duncani can not be detected using the standard Babesia microti tests. Doctors should order both the Babesia duncani test along with the Babesia microti test if Babesiosis is suspected.

General Information: Many Lyme disease patients have one or more tick borne infections. One study indicates over 1/2 of Babesiosis patients also have Lyme disease.

Babesiosis Symptoms: The parasite that causes Babesiosis invades and then destroys red blood cells and can cause a malaria-like (relapsing) illness which can become chronic and/or can be fatal (10%- 28% fatality rate). Symptoms can include dizziness, depression, intermittent fevers, chills, waves of sweats, mood swings, drenching night sweats, feelings of being off-balance, muscle pains, breathing difficulties (air hunger), sensitivity to light, enhanced senses, headaches and malaise.

Patients with Babesiosis may also experience episodes of vomiting, bleeding tendencies, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexplained weight gain or loss, dark colored urine (blood in urine), anemia, swollen spleen (can rupture in some cases), enlarged liver, congestive heart failure, respiratory failure, renal failure, bruising, jaundice, pulmonary edema, myocardial infarction, anorexia, evidence of shock and encephalopathy. Symptoms can range from mild to severe. Some feel babesiosis is more dangerous than Lyme disease. To see more information and possible babesia symptoms, please refer to Dr. James Schaller’s Checklists for Bartonella, Babesia and Lyme Disease by clicking here.

Supplementation with glutathione and glutamine can increase the number of babesia parasites and should be used slowly to prevent increased anxiety.

Babesia Testing: Babesia tests, like Lyme tests, are not known for their ability to detect the infection in all patients. Many experienced doctors will diagnose and treat based on history and symptoms due to the failure of many tests to detect the infection. Some doctors run multiple tests to improve the chance of detecting the infection. Antibody tests from Quest Lab (includes multiple strains) and PCR tests from IGeneX Lab for babesiosis are useful if positive, but a negative result does not rule out the disease. The Babesia organism is rarely detected in blood smears.

Some advanced experts will use indirect laboratory testing such as VEGF, TNF-a, IL-6, IL-1B, ECP, and sudden drops in MSH (LabCorp) or natural killer cell numbers such as CD57, CD56, CD3 and CD4 in response to a malaria or Babesia medication. Some experts feel symptoms caused by patients being given low doses of pure Babesia medications is highly suspicious for Babesia.

Babesia Treatment: A combination of high dose Atovaquone/Mepron, 4 T per day (2 T, 2x per day), and Zithromax or Biaxin, is a common treatment for Babesiosis. This combination is reported to have less serious side effects than quinine and clindamyacin. Eating fatty foods (bacon, ice cream, etc) when taking Mepron has been reported to increase absorption of the drug. The cost to treat babesiosis with Mepron/Zithromax can range from approximately $1,800- $3,600 per month. If you have no insurance and have a modest net income, $30,000 as a single person or $40,000 as a couple, you may qualify for free Mepron or Malarone through the Bridges to Access program. You can learn more about the program by clicking here.

The duration of treatment has recently been increased to a minimum of 4 months, often requiring 9 months to eradicate the organisms in early cases. In some patients recovery was not seen until five years into treatment.

Coartem, Malarone and Artesunate is also used in some cases, especially when patients develop Mepron resistance or have a strain that does not respond. Some physicians feel other anti-malarials or antibiotics may play a role in removing residual Babesia, and others feel improvement is seen once Lyme is being killed. Loading doses with some medications can cause severe symptoms in the beginning of treatment and is not advised. Instead, starting with low doses may allow less debris and less added inflammation, and the doses can be raised as the negative effects disappear.

Artemisinin has been rejected by all international major malaria organizations as a treatment, as of 2014, and replaced with artesunate in combination with a synthetic anti-malarial medication. Since Babesia is far harder to kill than malaria, some experts feel using artemisinin, a rejected synthetic form of sweet wormwood or Artemisia that is no longer promoted in malaria care, is unwise. Babesia relapses are fairly common, but do not appear to be caused by a slime protective layer coating the organisms, which is commonly found in bacteria and fungal infections.

In summary, artemisinin is reported to not be as affective as other treatments and can still rarely produce some severe side effects. However, if you feel worse in the first few days on this medicine, inform your healer. If it is not ear pain it might be a sign you just killed some Babesia.

Many other medications exist that are proposed to augment the bodies ability to remove Babesia. Some include Beta blockers, Heparin and perhaps most importantly quality blood thinners or clot prevention agents--natural and synthetic options exist. Some world Babesia experts feel Babesia is far more deadly than Lyme disease, and a clot is one way patients are harmed. A TIA, stroke, or heart attack in a Lyme patient or someone in a high exposure area should be examined closely for clotting time with a D-Dimer test, PT/PTT and attention to how long you bleed--under one minute is far too fast. Many new lab tests exist to examine clotting function and samples are avaialable at all large national labs.

Cucurmin, an anti-malerial herbal, can be used to improve babesia treatment, and two possible optimal forms may be Enhansa and BCM-95, but we defer this to your healer.

Heparin inhibits the growth of babesia and has been shown to eliminate the infection by covering/coating the outer area of red blood cells, preventing the parasites from entering individual cells. Cucurmin, an anti-malerial, can be used in the treatment of babesia patients. (When adrenal function is low, response to treatment can be negatively affected.)

Cryptoleptis is another herbal option that has been noted to help patients who relapse when anti-malerials fail or for those who need milder treatment that still hinders babesia reproduction and action.

Re-treatment or long term treatment is often needed in chronic or long-standing cases. Patients may experience a worsening of the symptoms while treating babesiosis (reported in some to be during the first two weeks or later). Once this worsening occurs a few times, the patient should enter into a more stable recovery phase, although with each dose increase you may notice more symptoms. Of special note- this worsening is often accompanied by what patients have dubbed the "Mepron Blues", which can be a deepening depression, emotional instability, insomnia, aches and an increase in anxiety levels.

Additional Babesia Information

There are more than 100 known species of Babesia that can infect various small mammals, primates, rats and gerbils. The first Babesia species was discovered in 1888 by Victor Babes, a Hungarian pathologist in whose honor the organisms were subsequently named.

Researchers continue to describe new babesial species affecting humans, such as MO1, which was associated with the first reported case of Babesiosis acquired in the state of Missouri. It is unclear where to classify MO-1. The standard serology for Babesia microti will not detect these species and many other new species and strains in the public genetic data bases. Health care professionals should order tests for multiple strains and body impact labs that are not as simple as checking for Babesia microti with a Babesia microti antibody test.

PCR testing varies a great deal between labs, and is usually less sensitive than antibody testing. Some practitioners have used 2-3 low dose malaria medications and found the debris of Babesia increases positive PCR or DNA tests for Babesia.

After an infectious tick bite (organisms found in salivary glands and guts of ticks), Babesia parasites invade red blood cells. Transfusion-associated babesiosis, transplacental, perinatal and congenital babesiosis have also been described and have caused severe illness and death in fetuses and patients.

After a transfusion with infected blood, the incubation period can be up to nine weeks. The risk factors for the recipient have included donors who have had exposure in endemic areas.

The typical incubation period of Babesiosis varies from 5 to 33 days; however, most patients do not recall tick exposure. The correlation between the level of the serology titer and the severity of symptoms is poor, and tests may be false-negative in many cases.

If Babesiosis is suspected, treatment should begin immediately to prevent the worsening of symptoms and should continue until all symptoms have been cleared.

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Please see subpages below for more information.

Babesia Infecting Blood Cells

Recommended Books

Dr. James Schaller (Florida resident) has written several outstanding books on Babesiosis and other tick borne diseases that can be purchased at Amazon.com