I have lyme and no coinfections, I feel bad and want to get my sister educated the best way I can. I know everyone here can point me in the right direction.

Babesia is a protozoa that effects the red blood cells so there's no problem with it getting in to organs.

The rx of Mepron (Atavaquon) and Zithromax (Azithromycin) is the one that has the greatest success and the least side effects. I also took Artamisinin along with the 6 months of Mepron/Zith. Biaxin and Ketek have been used instead of Zith if Zith is not well tolerated.

The alternative is Cleocin (clindamycin) and quinine. Quinine is not well tolerated by many people. The success rate is lower with this combo as well.

There's one other drug that people here have used and it has atavaquon (mepron) in it plus something else. I can't remember what that is right now.

Babesia can come back.

It is best to treat babs first then treat Lyme. The Zithromax tends to help out with Lyme some too.

I don't know of anyone who has both of these diseases who got better until after they treated Babesiosis.

That's it for now.

Best of Luck,

Babesiosis: An illness caused by the parasite Babesia which is transmitted from animals to humans by ticks. In the US, it is typically contracted in the Northeast or Midwest -- in southern New England or New York State and in Wisconsin or Minnesota.

The signs and symptoms include fever, chills, sweating, myalgias (muscle aches), fatigue, hepatosplenomegaly (enlargement of the liver and spleen) and hemolytic anemia (anemia due to break-up of red cells). Symptoms typically occur after an incubation period of 1 to 4 weeks and can last several weeks.

The disease is more severe in patients who are immunosuppressed, splenectomized (lack their spleen), or elderly. It can cause death. Treatment involves antibiotics, usually clindamycin and quinine.

The parasite: While more than 100 species of Babesia have been reported, only a few have been identified as causing human infections. Babesia microti and Babesia divergens have been identified in most human cases, but variants (considered different species) have been recently identified. Little is known about the occurrence of Babesia species in malarial areas where Babesia can easily be misdiagnosed as Plasmodium (the agent of malaria).

The life cycle of the parasite: (This contains some technical information.) The B. microti life cycle involves two hosts, which includes a rodent, primarily the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus. During a blood meal, a Babesia-infected tick introduces sporozoites into the mouse host. Sporozoites enter erythrocytes and undergo asexual reproduction (budding). In the blood, some parasites differentiate into male and female gametes although these cannot be distinguished at the light microscope level. The definitive host is a tick, in this case the deer tick, Ixodes dammini (I. scapularis). Once ingested by an appropriate tick, gametes unite and undergo a sporogonic cycle resulting in sporozoites. Transovarial transmission (also known as vertical, or hereditary, transmission) has been documented for "large" Babesia spp. but not for the "small" babesia, such as B. microti.

Humans enter the cycle when bitten by infected ticks. During a blood meal, a Babesia-infected tick introduces sporozoites into the human host. Sporozoites enter erythrocytes and undergo asexual replication (budding). Multiplication of the blood stage parasites is responsible for the clinical manifestations of the disease.

Humans are, for all practical purposes, dead-end hosts and there is probably little, if any, subsequent transmission that occurs from ticks feeding on infected persons. However, human to human transmission can occur through blood transfusions.

Deer are the hosts upon which the adult ticks feed and are indirectly part of the Babesia cycle as they influence the tick population. When deer populations increase, the tick population also increases, thus heightening the potential for transmission.

The diagnosis: Diagnosis can be made by microscopic examination of thick and thin blood smears stained with Giemsa. Repeated blood smears may need to be examined to make the diagnosis. Antibody detection by indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test is a complementary diagnostic test. Isolation of Babesia by inoculation of the patient's blood into hamsters or gerbils may also assist in diagnosis. Animals inoculated with infective blood typically develop parasitemia (parasites circulating in their bloodstream) within 1 to 4 weeks.

Treatment: The current drug treatment options (in 2002) are clindamycin plus quinine or with atovaquone plus azithromycin. Exchange transfusions have been used in severely ill patients with high parasitemia (high levels of the parasite in the blood).

My LLMD told me potential side effects of Mepron are very severe, and can include organ failures. Most people get blood tests every 1 or 2 weeks on Mepron to watch enzymes from the organs.