As warmer weather arrives in the U.S., people are spending more time outside. In areas of the Northwest and upper Midwest that means they might be at an increased risk for developing a tick-borne illness that’s on the rise.
“As case rates rise in multiple states, tick prevention messaging, provider education, and traveler risk awareness should be emphasized,” said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last spring of babesiosis, a tickborne disease caused by intraerythrocytic Babesia parasites.
According to the CDC, the first human case of babesiosis in the U.S. was identified on Massachusetts’ Nantucket Island in 1969. In the U.S., most cases are caused by bites from black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) bites. However, it can also be transmitted through blood transfusions, organ transplants and congenitally. Infections range in severity. They can by asymptomatic, cause mild illness or cause severe illness that in some cases turns fatal.
Typically, symptoms of infection include fever, muscle and joint pain, and headache. Severe complications include thrombocytopenia, renal failure, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
From 2011 to 2019, babesiosis trends increased in 10 states. States where incidence increased significantly were Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
These aren’t the only places where cases have been found, but they have, by far, the most. According to the CDC a total of 16,456 cases of babesiosis were reported to CDC by 37 states from 2011 to 2019, with more than 98% coming from the 10 states mentioned above.
“We have an increased number of cases of babesiosis here and increased geographic spread, partly due to climate and partly due to the fact that we have encroached into areas that were previously wooded,” said Dr. Cassandra Pierre, an epidemiologist at Boston Medical Center, as quoted by GBH in Boston, Mass.
That outlet also reported that the majority of patients diagnosed with babesiosis are over the age of 50. Dr. Edouard Vannier, an infectious disease researcher at Tufts Medical Center in Boston doctors should expect to see more patients infected with babesiosis as the population ages.
“What people are not aware of is that you actually can die from babesiosis, but that you will rarely die from Lyme disease,” said Vannier, comparing the condition to another tick-borne illness.
On Thursday, a press release from 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals announced that the company had entered an agreement with Tufts Medical Center to conduct a clinical trial that will evaluate the safety and efficacy of tafenoquine for the treatment of babesiosis in humans. It will be the world’s first clinical trial focused on this treatment for the parasitic infection.
Enrollment in the trial will begin June 13.
Per the CDC, babesiosis can be treated using a combination of antimicrobial medications, such as azithromycin and atovaquone. Earlier this year, Yale School of Medicine said that a growing number of the infections are growing resistant to therapies.
“A Yale-led team’s new therapeutic strategy not only completely clears – and builds immunity against – drug-resistant Babesia parasites in experimental models, but also may offer insights into developing future babesiosis vaccines,” said the school. Like Tufts, Yale looked into tafenoquine, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2018 for the prevention and treatment of malaria.
“They tested a combination therapy of tafenoquine and atovaquone in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised mice,” said Yale, adding that “they found that this combination of drugs was effective in curing infections across all animal models, including the immunocompromised mice.”
Researchers from Yale are also looking into developing a babesiosis vaccine in the future.