Just wondering
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
Babesia is a parasite. It's not an intestinal parasite, but it's still a parasite. Of the blood, like malaria.
Posted by S13 (Member # 42830) on :
I hate the term parasite. All pathogens are parasites. The name is very confusing.
Lets just call them what they are. Pathogenic protozoa, bacteria, spirochetes, helminths, etc.
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
This is interesting...
"Babesia species are spread through the saliva of a tick when it bites. ... The parasite can survive in the tick as it molts through its various developmental stages, resulting in all stages being potentially infectious."
"Babesia species enter red blood cells (erythrocytes) at the sporozoite stage. Within the red blood cell, the protozoa become cyclical and develop into a trophozoite ring.
The trophozoites moult into merozoites, which have a tetrad structure coined a Maltese-cross form.[18]
The tetrad morphology, which can be seen with Giemsa staining of a thin blood smear, is unique to Babesia, and serves as a distinguishing feature from Plasmodium falciparum, a protozoan of similar morphology that causes malaria.
Trophozoite and merozoite growth ruptures the host erythrocyte, leading to the release of vermicules, the infectious parasitic bodies, which rapidly spread the protozoa throughout the blood.[5]"