Topic: Babesia testing if bitten in Texas/southern states
susank
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 22150
posted
Duncani or Microti?
Asking for a friend - ready to send in test kit.
Am also wondering about myself - I think I was tested for Microti. Igenex negative.
Should I have tested for Duncani?
It's been so long ago............
Thanks.
-------------------- Pos.Bb culture 2012 Labcorp - no bands ever Igenex - Neg. 4 times With overall bands: IGM 18,28,41,66 IND: 23-25,34,39 IGG 41,58 IND: 39 Bart H IGG 40 Posts: 1613 | From Texas | Registered: Aug 2009
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poppy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5355
posted
I would say yes, test for both. Duncani all over the U.S. now. There are still other species for which no tests exist. Duncani does not cross react on microti tests, don't know about others. My duncani was first found in a blood smear after a negative microti test, then confirmed with an antibody test (guessing that's what it was.)
Posts: 2888 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I agree with Poppy - test for both species regardless of where you live. Per verbal conversation with a well known babs expert - the two species do not cross react on either antibody or PCR tests.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
I tested negative for babesia but clearly had the symptoms and responded to the treatment of it. I'm not sure testing is going to be definitive even if she tests for both. Just keep in mind symptoms.
I never had trouble getting babesia meds approved by insurance even with being clinically diagnosed, only the Lyme meds and I had a positive Western Blot. I could never take a Lyme med that needed prior approval.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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So there--there are several things you need to know about the diagnosis which is the Giemsa stain is very difficult unless you’re very, very ill. Babesia, there are several strains, so here in the Hudson Valley most doctors might check for one called Babesia Microti. That’s the most common one that doctors usually look for. So you can do that by titer; it’s called an IFA, immuno-fluorescent antibody. But there’s another strain of Babesia called Babesia WA1 Duncani, which won't test positive by Babesia Microti testing. So you could still have the malarial symptoms; you say oh, I looked for Babesia and I didn’t find it, but it’s because in fact you’ve got this other strain of Babesia. And we did testing through Lab Corp; it was about a year and a half ago and I presented this at one of the International Lyme Conferences. Nineteen-percent of all the blood tests that I sent out for patients and that includes Poughkeepsie, Wappingers Falls, all the way down from Winter Park, Florida to Hamlin, Maine, the entire northeast seaboard, I’ve been getting Babesia WA1 Duncani in 19-percent just doing a regular blood test for Babesia WA1 Duncani. Most of the doctors do not test for this strain of Babesia.
And then for Babesia, you use a panel approach, a Giemsa stain, a Babesia immune-fluorescent assay, IFA for Babesia Microti, an IFA for Babesia Duncani, WA1, a PCR looking for the DNA, polymerase chain reaction, a FISH testing. There’s five Babesia tests. And you also check for Ehrlichiosis, Anaplasma, Bartonella Henselae, Mycoplasma, Rocky Mountain, Q-Fever; in other words you do a whole panel of tick-borne testing because if any one of those tick-borne tests comes back positive and a patient is not well, the likelihood of them having other tick-borne diseases is quite high.
Posts: 705 | From WA state | Registered: Jul 2011
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posted
My daughter and I test positive for WA-1 duncani. We were tested by Dr. H. We are from Alabama. Many here are affected by babesia.
Posts: 69 | From Birmingham, AL 35242 | Registered: Sep 2008
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