Has anyone just gotten babesia alone?
Posted by julielynne4 (Member # 20336) on :
I have heard of people getting co-infections without lyme. I guess some ticks carry lyme AND coinfections, and others can just carry one or more such as babesia.
Plus sometimes people may test positive for the babesia and never test positive for lyme.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Ditto to what Julie said.
Terry
Posted by jenny76 (Member # 18205) on :
Weird, my only real positive was Babs....I didn't know that we could have one and not the others.
Posted by dfalcone (Member # 19035) on :
Blood work will not give you a reliable result for lyme, so just b.c it didn't show, doesn't really mean you don't have it. I hope you don't, but I have learned not to rely on bloodwork. Even Igenex with it's skilled technicians and broader net can't see it all. So... I guess I'm saying maybe you do and it just didn't show up in a blot. A lot of things effect the blot.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Yes, but it would be rare, just like it's rare to have ONLY Lyme.
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
My current LLMD thinks that from my first tick bite, I only got bartonella, becauase I had a VERY immediate flare of symptoms right after the bite (which is classic Bart...getting symptoms right away), then the illness seemed to resolve on it's own, with the exception of some rage issues.
He thinks I got Lyme and babesia later in life, from another bite. Also, I did not become very sick until later in life, and he thinks if I would have gotten Lyme in the first bite, my current health problems would have emerged much sooner, or there would have at least been clues early on.
So all I'm really saying is that I know my LLMD thinks ticks can carry Bartonella only, so perhaps the same is true for babesia.
Posted by hcconn22 (Member # 5263) on :
Yes
Again this is one of the many medical misconceptions about tick borne diseases.
Basically can get any co-infection al-la carte or with Lyme.
For those who have been bitten many times the odds just go wayyyy up for lyme and multiple co-infections
Posted by hcconn22 (Member # 5263) on :
PS Just to confirm our son had an attached tick last year.
Sent to lab that tested the tick for lyme and babesia.
Neg for lyme
Positive for Babesia
Thats a fact.
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
I have read many, many pieces of literature stating co-infections exist 20% of the time. I'm not sure what to believe. Some LLMDs really ump up the numbers.
On Lymenet, it's really impossible not to think you have Lyme, Babesia, Bartonella and 10 other illnesses. If you don't test positive, it' because there's 15 other strains. The symptom lists overlap so much I think many of us can fool ourselves into believing it all at times. It's a tough road to walk.
quote:Originally posted by Lymetoo: Yes, but it would be rare, just like it's rare to have ONLY Lyme.
Posted by ChuckG (Member # 19093) on :
Not Babs but relevant. Bold added.
quote:Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) from a Coastal Region of California
Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, was detected by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 44 of 776 (5.67%) Ixodes pacificus ticks
Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the causative agent of HGE, was detected by PCR in 48 (6.19%) I. pacificus ticks
Ehrlichia chaffeensis, the causative agent of HME, was detected by nested PCR in just five (0.64%) I. pacificus ticks
Interestingly, eight (1.03%) I. pacificus ticks were co-infected with B. burgdorferi and A. phagocytophilum, and just one (0.12%) tick was co-infected with B. burgdorferi and E. chaffeensis.
For A. phagocytophilum 40 of 48 (83%) were not also carrying Bb.
For Ehrlichia chaffeensis 4 of 5 (80%) were not also carrying Bb.
These are very small numbers. And we know nothing of the sensitivity and specificity of the tests.
I can't find a much more extensive study done in California that I found months ago. Found the complete paper online. Guess I didn't save it.
Posted by Dekrator48 (Member # 18239) on :
It is also possible for a previously healthy person to be infected with Babesia through a blood transfusion.
Posted by Lemon-Lyme (Member # 19229) on :
It is possible, although it can be tricky to say a person has babesia and not Lyme. The more co-infections a person has, the odds of Lyme exposure of course goes up.
Since testing isn't exactly reliable, I suppose the best way to figure it out is treat for Babesia. if all symptoms go away, you are set. If not, treat for Lyme and consider other co-infections.