There are a ton of threads on here about babesia so if you do a search on babesia you will be able to get some really good information on here as well.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Babesia is an infection that people often get at the same time they get lyme disease. The tick can give you a number of diseases with that one bite.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- (oh, I took so long to type others gave you good answers. I was too tired to look for a link, but that would have been easier than typing it all out).
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Babesia
A tick-borne infection. A protozoa.
There are many different strains worldwide, affecting humans and animals. Mostly, only two strains are tested for human patients in the U.S.
Similar to malaria. Some treatment methods used against malaria can be helpful against babeisa - but not all or all the time.
Treatment for lyme will not treat babesia. It requires other methods.
As with malaria, treatment for Babesia is ALWAYS combination. Monotherapy (one agent) is NEVER enough.
Among some Rx frequently used: Malrone, Mepron . . . Quinine (if under strict monitoring regarding danger to ears if too much is taken). And others.
An herbal extract often incorporated: Artemisinin (as part of a plan).
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You can read more about it in the Burrascano and Singleton links posted for you about two weeks ago.
Many (if not most) who are infected with lyme also carry babesia.
Bartonella is another common tick-borne disease (TBD) to assess. There are many TBD.
Every patient with lyme should be assessed for other TBD.
As you have just had your first appt. with a VERY good LL PA, I'm sure you have been or will be assessed for the full range. Sometimes, it takes a little time for LL doctor to get to know you and see how you progress with the starting treating plan before they can delve deeper into the pool to address coinfections so to speak.
If it's clear that a patient has a particualr coinfections, a LLMD will sometimes treat each TBD in a certain order - or try to cover several at once with a combination protocol.
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Jenny mentioned doing a search here at LymeNet for past threads. Here's the link to the search page: