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New tickborne illness crawls into Hudson Valley
12:05 AM, Apr. 15, 2011
Written by
Theresa Juva
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Doctors diagnosed Lyme disease in Moore, now 37 ? and days later diagnosed a second tickborne disease she'd never heard of: babesiosis.
The malaria-like illness is a red-blood-cell parasite that has killed up to 5 percent of people hospitalized in the state for it, according to three studies of patients with the disease (pronounced BUH-bee-zee-o-sis).
Moore, who was more susceptible to a severe case because she has had her spleen removed, did not initially respond to drugs.
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Doctors at New York Medical College in Valhalla have been tracking the disease's sudden appearance in this area and its twentyfold incident increase since 2001 that's easily outpacing the rest of the state.
In 2001, there were six recorded cases of babesiosis in Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties.
That skyrocketed to 119 by 2008, with most reports emerging on the east side of the Hudson River, according to a study in the May issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
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Meanwhile, Westchester Medical Center treated 19 babesiosis patients from 2002-09, including a 95-year-old man who died, researchers said. They also noted that, in addition to tick bites, people have contracted babesiosis from blood transfusions. It can also pass from an infected mother to a baby during pregnancy or delivery.
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Some people get babesiosis and show no symptoms and require no treatment. But people older than 50 or with compromised immune systems, such as cancer patients or those with no spleens, are more likely to get very sick, Wormser said.
...
12:05 AM, Apr. 15, 2011
Written by
Theresa Juva
...
Doctors diagnosed Lyme disease in Moore, now 37 ? and days later diagnosed a second tickborne disease she'd never heard of: babesiosis.
The malaria-like illness is a red-blood-cell parasite that has killed up to 5 percent of people hospitalized in the state for it, according to three studies of patients with the disease (pronounced BUH-bee-zee-o-sis).
Moore, who was more susceptible to a severe case because she has had her spleen removed, did not initially respond to drugs.
...
Doctors at New York Medical College in Valhalla have been tracking the disease's sudden appearance in this area and its twentyfold incident increase since 2001 that's easily outpacing the rest of the state.
In 2001, there were six recorded cases of babesiosis in Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties.
That skyrocketed to 119 by 2008, with most reports emerging on the east side of the Hudson River, according to a study in the May issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
...
Meanwhile, Westchester Medical Center treated 19 babesiosis patients from 2002-09, including a 95-year-old man who died, researchers said. They also noted that, in addition to tick bites, people have contracted babesiosis from blood transfusions. It can also pass from an infected mother to a baby during pregnancy or delivery.
...
Some people get babesiosis and show no symptoms and require no treatment. But people older than 50 or with compromised immune systems, such as cancer patients or those with no spleens, are more likely to get very sick, Wormser said.
...
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