Babesiosis News and Research

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Babesiosis is an emerging, zoonotic, tick-borne disease caused by intraerythrocytic protozoan parasites of the genus Babesia, which are transmitted by hard-bodied (Ixodes) ticks. Several different species are known to cause disease in humans, most notably Babesia microti, Babesia divergens and Babesia duncani.

Tufts Lyme Disease Initiative receives $7M in grants to advance research to next level

Researchers at the Tufts Lyme Disease Initiative recently received grants totaling more than $7 million to build on an already impressive array of discoveries that Tufts' teams have made to combat tick-borne diseases.

19 Sep 2023

NIAID funds research to better understand Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded five projects for research to better understand Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), which is a collection of symptoms, such as pain, fatigue, and difficulty thinking or "brain fog," which linger following standard treatment for Lyme disease.

21 Jul 2023

Most kids recover from Lyme disease within six months of completing antibiotic treatment

A majority of parents of children diagnosed with Lyme disease reported that their kids recovered within six months of completing antibiotic treatment, according to a new joint study from Children's National Research Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, published in Pediatric Research.

21 Apr 2023

Genomic study reveals Babesia duncani's pathogenicity and virulence

'Tis the season for hiking now that spring has arrived and temperatures are on the upswing. But with hikes come insect bites and on the increase in North America is babesiosis, a malaria-like disease spread especially between May and October by a tick.

13 Apr 2023

How do cattle impact human vector-borne disease risk?

Scientists from the United States have conducted a systematic review to understand whether cattle increase the risk of contracting vector-borne diseases by humans. The review is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

12 Feb 2023

WVU biomedical engineer receives $1.2 million to improve early detection of tick-borne infections

A team led by a West Virginia University biomedical engineer is working to ramp up and reimagine how medical professionals diagnose tick-borne infections such as Lyme disease.

7 Oct 2022

Nanotech imaging device shows potential to make disease diagnosis with smartphones

A nanotech imaging device, tiny enough to fit on a smartphone camera lens, has the potential to make the diagnosis of certain diseases accessible and affordable for people in rural and remote regions, say Australian scientists who developed it.

12 May 2022

World Malaria Day 2022: How the knockdown of P. falciparum RAP01 and RAP21 proteins could lead to novel antimalarial therapeutics

As part of World Malaria Day 2022, we interview Karine Le Roch PH.D., about her latest research into how novel antimalarial therapeutic strategies could be on the horizon, after identifying two proteins that are critical to the survival of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

25 Apr 2022

Texas A&M AgriLife scientists receive grant to fight pesticide-resistant cattle fever ticks

Two projects by Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists aim to protect the U.S. cattle industry from the emerging threat of pesticide-resistant cattle fever ticks.

21 Apr 2022

Study demonstrates the potency of herbal medicines against Bartonella henselae

Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the U.S., today announced the publication of new data showing that herbal medicines have potent activity in test tubes compared to pharmaceuticals commonly-prescribed for the treatment of Bartonella henselae, a bacterium believed to be carried by ticks and the cause of cat scratch fever.

5 Aug 2021

Five herbal medicines show potent activity against Babesia duncani in the lab

Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the U.S., today announced the publication of new data finding that five herbal medicines had potent activity compared to commonly-used antibiotics in test tubes against Babesia duncani, a malaria-like parasite found on the West Coast of the U.S. that causes the disease babesiosis.

9 Mar 2021

Three FDA-approved drugs can block the replication of COVID-19 virus

Three drugs that are already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or other international agencies can block the production of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in human cells, according to computational and pharmaceutical studies performed by UT Southwestern scientists.

19 May 2020

Combination therapy trial to understand the biology, spread, treatment of COVID-19

The HonorHealth Research Institute and HonorHealth announced today the successful enrollment on a novel combination of atovaquone and azithromycin in patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 infection.

6 May 2020

2019 ASTMH Annual Meeting to focus on Ebola, monkey malaria, and other infectious diseases

This year's meeting will kick off with keynotes from two public health heroes who have pioneered a home-based approach to fighting infant mortality in India that's now being adopted in 10 countries.

23 Sep 2019

Ticks now carrying multiple diseases, says new study

A new study published in the journal mBio reports that ticks carry many more disease-causing agents than just those responsible for causing Lyme disease.

17 Sep 2019

Quidel receives CE mark to use Sofia 2 Lyme+ Fluorescent Immunoassay with Sofia 2 analyzer

Quidel Corporation, a provider of rapid diagnostic testing solutions, cellular-based virology assays and molecular diagnostic systems, announced today that it has received CE Mark to market Quidel's Sofia 2 Lyme+ FIA to be used with the Sofia 2 Fluorescent Immunoassay Analyzer for the rapid differential detection of human IgM and IgG antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia afzelii from serum and plasma specimens.

19 Dec 2018

New study finds ticks that can carry Lyme and other tick-borne diseases

The results of a nationwide citizen scientist study, sponsored by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation and conducted by Northern Arizona University and Colorado State University, found ticks capable of carrying Lyme and other tick-borne diseases in 83 counties throughout the country where they had not previously been recorded

13 Jul 2018

Forest ecosystem influences tick-borne disease risk in the eastern US

In the eastern US, risk of contracting Lyme disease is higher in fragmented forests with high rodent densities and low numbers of resident fox, opossum, and raccoons.

10 Jul 2018

Ticks and mosquitoes a “growing health problem” says CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new report warning people about the myriad of diseases that are transmitted via bites of blood-sucking insects such as ticks, mosquitoes and fleas calling it a “growing health problem” in the United States.

2 May 2018

FDA approves new tests to detect tickborne parasite in human plasma and whole blood samples

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the Imugen Babesia microti Arrayed Fluorescent Immunoassay, for the detection of antibodies to Babesia microti (B. microti) in human plasma samples, and the Imugen Babesia microti Nucleic Acid Test (NAT), for the detection of B. microti DNA in human whole blood samples.

7 Mar 2018