Babesiosis was first diagnosed in the Northeast in the 1970s on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. Since then, it has been found along the East Coast, from New York to Cape Cod, said Don Nadeau, a doctor who specializes in the treatment of Lyme disease and babesiosis at the Wickford Junction medical clinic in North Kingstown. While Lyme disease comes with a telltale circular rash, babesiosis has no such obvious clue. Only a blood test can confirm the disease. The disease is usually treated with an antibiotic or with quinine, used to treat malaria.
Some people can carry it around all their lives.
It can go fairly unnoticed. But others get chronic arthritis. And if untreated, babesiosis can damage the liver, spleen and kidney, Nadeau said. Not everyone agrees. Richard Bolig, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Health Department, said yesterday that doctors are getting better at diagnosing diseases such as babesiosis, which could account for the jump in reported cases.