Babesia infections in man

Abstract

Only recently has it been recognized that hemotropic animal parasites of the genus babesia are also human pathogens. Similar to malaria in both symptoms and laboratory findings, acute babesiosis generally results in self-limited illness, but it can be fatal in the asplenic patient. The widely disseminated vector tick, Ixodes dammini, can transmit infection at each stage of its development, larva and nymph as well as adult.