Swedish doctors report that this year there have been cases of an unusual human infection carried by ticks - babesiosis. This disease is common among animals, but few people know that it can affect humans. According to Swedish scientists, babesia is especially fond of cool and humid weather. In some cases, the disease can be fatal.
Summer has come, and with it ticks. And ticks brought diseases with them. Doctors warn that cases of infection, which is unusual for humans, have been recorded in Sweden.
"This disease is called babesiosis or piroplasmosis," says researcher Anna Omazic.
Most of us have heard of borreliosis and encephalitis - these are the most common diseases carried by ticks. But few people know the simplest parasite babesia.
Babesias are often found in the blood of livestock and wildlife in southern Sweden. But recently, five doctors in the Läkartidningen newspaper published an article in which they warned that the disease affects people, and even more often than previously thought.
Doctors made this discovery as a result of a recent study, which showed that in Skåne (an area in southern Sweden - ed.), Many patients with borreliosis also have antibodies to Babesia in their blood.
Among the symptoms of the disease are fatigue, fever or muscle pain, but in especially severe cases, human life is also in danger, since the work of important organs, for example, the spleen, is disrupted.
The disease is carried by common ticks, but it can also be transmitted through blood transfusions. In the USA he is very well known, so blood donors are always checked for Babesia. In Sweden, this practice is not in use.
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“Babesiosis is a common but very serious disease in Swedish cattle. In Sweden, it is often called "summer sickness" (sommarsjuka), - said Anna Omazic, a researcher at the Swedish Veterinary Institute. - The disease begins with high fever, apathy, blood in the urine, and sometimes even black liquid stools. If the animal is not treated, it is very it is likely to die."
How widespread this parasite is outside of Skane is not yet clear.
“Last year and this year, we collected ticks north of the Dalelven River to believe what infections they carry. We will receive the test results only in the fall. Ticks move, but we do not know for sure if this affects the distribution of diseases, although this is very likely,”says Anna Omazic.
“They like our Swedish summer - cool and humid. There are probably more ticks this year than last summer, when it was surprisingly hot and dry,”she adds.
Oscar Schau