Sketchy Micro: Babesia

Question 1

Babesia is most common in ______________.

Answer 1

the northeast (25% of people in Rhode Island are seropositive)

Question 2

Babesia is transmitted by the ______________.

Answer 2

Ixodes scapularis tick (like the tick shields with antlers in the background)

Question 3

What symptoms are typical of babesiosis?

Answer 3

• Hemolytic anemia (like the RBC stained glass windows with chips in them)
• Jaundice (like the vampire babe dressed in yellow beneath the RBC window)
• Fever (like Robin of Ixodes sweating)
• Irregularly cycling fevers (like the irregular border of Robin’s tunic)

Question 4

Babesiosis is more likely to be severe in ________________.

Answer 4

sickle cell patients (like the Queen’s sickle and the spleen-shaped hole in Robin’s tunic)

Question 5

How can babesiosis be diagnosed?

Answer 5

Thick blood smear with cross-shaped groupings of trophozoites (like the thick red carpet with the Maltese cross in the middle, beneath Robin)

Question 6

What drugs treat babesiosis?

Answer 6

• Atovaquone (like Queen Atova)

* Azithromycin (like the crows on her shoulder)