The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and State Health Departments should include Blood-Type Variables in their Babesiosis Case Reports

• Authors: Ryan Philip Jajosky, Emory University; Audrey N Jajosky, Case Western Reserve University; Philip G Jajosky, Biconcavity Inc
• Journal Title: TRANSFUSION AND APHERESIS SCIENCE
• Volume: Volume 59, Number 5
• Publisher: Elsevier | 2020-10-01
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.transci.2020.102824
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Pathology
• Keywords: Babesiosis

Abstract

Babesiosis is a growing threat in the United States (US) – likely due to climate change [1]. Babesiosis is an infectious disease caused by Babesia parasites, which invade red blood cells (RBCs). [2] Parasitized RBCs can (1) hemolyze or (2) block microvascular blood flow by adhering to vascular endothelium [3]. Because babesiosis is a serious “emerging disease” in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) designated babesiosis “a nationally notifiable disease” in 2011 [2]. This means US state and territorial health departments are encouraged to report babesiosis cases to the CDC. For the 5-year period from 2011 to 2015, CDC received 6277 “confirmed” and 1335 “probable” babesiosis case reports [2]. Of concern, the most recent year analyzed (2015) had the highest total number of cases (confirmed + probable) [2].