Cases of babesiosis, a potentially lethal, tick-borne parasitic infection that destroys erythrocytes, have grown faster in the Lower Hudson Valley than in the rest of New York. While the reason for the increase remains unknown, nurses should stay alert for this seasonally occurring disease.
“It can lead to life-threatening situations,” says Saungi McCalla, RN, MSN, MPH, CIC, director of infection prevention and control at White Plains (N.Y.) Hospital Center, which has had 16 babesiosis cases since 2009. “The main thing is to avoid it because there is no vaccine. And if you have symptoms, go in to the doctor or hospital to be diagnosed and treated.”
The number of Lower Hudson Valley residents diagnosed with babesiosis has increased from six cases in 2001 to 119 cases in 2008, while cases have risen about 1.6-fold in the rest of the state during the same period, from 89 cases in 2001 to 142 cases in 2008, according to a report published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s article “Emerging Infectious Diseases.”
“We are seeing an increase in this area, 20-fold in the Lower Hudson Valley,” says Brenda Martin, RN, infection control coordinator at Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, N.Y., which had one case of babesiosis in 2010.
Babesiosis occurs primarily in the spring, summer and fall. Cases have been reported on Long Island and in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, California, Georgia, Missouri and some European countries, according to the New York State Department of Health.
Although the disease is on the increase, it still pales in comparison to Lyme disease, another tick-borne illness endemic to the area. The CDC reported 4,609 Lyme disease cases in the Lower Hudson Valley in 2008. People can become infected with both babesiosis and Lyme disease simultaneously.
