Delayed onset Babesia case

The man had been diagnosed with the tick-borne illness Babesia in Florida 10 weeks after travelling to New York. Initially, he presented with a 4-day history of fever, generalized weakness, and flu-like symptoms. 

I first read about this case by Patel and colleagues in the journal Cureus .

His fever was 104.8 F.  His hemoglobin dropped from 9.3g/dL to 6.7g/dL within 5 hours. He was diagnosed with hemolysis and transfused with 2 units of packed red blood cells. A peripheral blood smear revealed a Maltese cross typically seen in Babesia.  

He was treated successfully. But what can learn about this delayed onset case of Babesia?

  1.             Savasta S, Fiorito I, Foiadelli T, et al. Abdominal pain as first manifestation of lyme neuroborreliosis in children, case report and review of literature. Ital J Pediatr. Nov 23 2020;46(1):172. doi:10.1186/s13052-020-00936-y

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 Dr. Cameron is a Lyme disease expert and the author “Inside Lyme: An expert's guide to the science of Lyme disease.” He has been treating adolescents and adults for more than 30 years.

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Comments

2 responses to “Delayed onset Babesia case”

  1. Wayne Avatar
    Wayne

    3 weeks ago I found a tick on my leg . It had already bitten me as I gradually tweezered it out of the skin . 3 days later I felt very ill .with .extreme fatigue , rash on tick ste , lost appetite . brain fog and slight dizziness. But went to doc who did general body tests and
    blood test but Nothing ?
    He said it can’t be tick fever as I did not have a fever or headache . ?
    Is this possible as I also had tick bite fever 15 years ago .
    10 days later I felt normal again . Dunno what it was

    1. I have not found the tests as reliable as I would like. Some of my Lyme disease patients never get a positive test. I have patients who have contracted Lyme disease more than once.

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