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Human Coinfection with Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in the United States

Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, and Babesia microti, a causative agent of babesiosis, are increasingly implicated in the growing tick-borne disease burden in the northeastern United States. These pathogens are transmitted via the bite of an infected tick vector, Ixodes sca...

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Autores principales: Knapp, Kristen L., Rice, Nancy A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4677215/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26697208
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/587131
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author Knapp, Kristen L.
Rice, Nancy A.
author_facet Knapp, Kristen L.
Rice, Nancy A.
author_sort Knapp, Kristen L.
collection PubMed
description Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, and Babesia microti, a causative agent of babesiosis, are increasingly implicated in the growing tick-borne disease burden in the northeastern United States. These pathogens are transmitted via the bite of an infected tick vector, Ixodes scapularis, which is capable of harboring and inoculating a host with multiple pathogens simultaneously. Clinical presentation of the diseases is heterogeneous and ranges from mild flu-like symptoms to near-fatal cardiac arrhythmias. While the reason for the variability is not known, the possibility exists that concomitant infection with both B. burgdorferi and B. microti may synergistically increase disease severity. In an effort to clarify the current state of understanding regarding coinfection with B. burgdorferi and B. microti, in this review, we discuss the geographical distribution and pathogenesis of Lyme disease and babesiosis in the United States, the immunological response of humans to B. burgdorferi or B. microti infection, the existing knowledge regarding coinfection disease pathology, and critical factors that have led to ambiguity in the literature regarding coinfection, in order to eliminate confusion in future experimental design and investigation.
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spelling pubmed-46772152015-12-22 Human Coinfection with Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in the United States Knapp, Kristen L. Rice, Nancy A. J Parasitol Res Review Article Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, and Babesia microti, a causative agent of babesiosis, are increasingly implicated in the growing tick-borne disease burden in the northeastern United States. These pathogens are transmitted via the bite of an infected tick vector, Ixodes scapularis, which is capable of harboring and inoculating a host with multiple pathogens simultaneously. Clinical presentation of the diseases is heterogeneous and ranges from mild flu-like symptoms to near-fatal cardiac arrhythmias. While the reason for the variability is not known, the possibility exists that concomitant infection with both B. burgdorferi and B. microti may synergistically increase disease severity. In an effort to clarify the current state of understanding regarding coinfection with B. burgdorferi and B. microti, in this review, we discuss the geographical distribution and pathogenesis of Lyme disease and babesiosis in the United States, the immunological response of humans to B. burgdorferi or B. microti infection, the existing knowledge regarding coinfection disease pathology, and critical factors that have led to ambiguity in the literature regarding coinfection, in order to eliminate confusion in future experimental design and investigation. Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2015 2015-11-30 /pmc/articles/PMC4677215/ /pubmed/26697208 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/587131 Text en Copyright © 2015 K. L. Knapp and N. A. Rice. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Review Article
Knapp, Kristen L.
Rice, Nancy A.
Human Coinfection with Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in the United States
title Human Coinfection with Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in the United States
title_full Human Coinfection with Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in the United States
title_fullStr Human Coinfection with Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in the United States
title_full_unstemmed Human Coinfection with Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in the United States
title_short Human Coinfection with Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in the United States
title_sort human coinfection with borrelia burgdorferi and babesia microti in the united states
topic Review Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4677215/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26697208
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/587131
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