Babesia Blood Transfusion

The aim of this page is to make blood transfusion patients aware of babesia blood transfusion transmission
Target groups :
- babesia patient(group)s
- blood transfusion patient(group)s
- blood transfusion centers

A few percentages of people are infected with babesia.
Babesia is transmittable by blood transfusion.

Better blood tests were developped the last years.
But they are rarely used.

Facebook page for questions and discussion
www.facebook.com/groups/babesiatransfusion

In USA, 14 out of 50 states perform a babesia test on blood donation.

The Impact of Babesia Testing on Transfusion-transmitted Babesiosis
Laura Tonnetti, Ph.D., is a scientist IV of the Scientific Affairs in Biomedical Services at the American Red Cross.
This Congress Presentation was held on June 20 2023, during the 33rd Regional ISBT Congress that was held in Gothenburg, Sweden.
www.isbtweb.org/resource/the-impact-of-babesia-testing-on-transfusion-transmitted-babesiosis.html

Although rare, TTB is still possible despite regional screening.
Patients with SCD are particularly vulnerable given their high frequency of transfusion and complex needs requiring blood procurement from states where Babesia screening is not mandatory.

Transfusion-transmitted babesiosis in a patient with sickle cell disease undergoing chronic red cell exchange
Victoria Costa, Nicolas Mercure-Corriveau, Jeremy Gourneau, Aaron A. R. Tobian, Jennifer M. Jones, Ashley Lauriello, Sophie Lanzkron, Elizabeth P. Crowe, Evan M. Bloch
Transfusion 2023 Mar;63(3):652-655. Epub 2023 Jan 13
https://doi.org/10.1111/trf.17244

An overall pooled estimate of 2.23% for Babesia infections is found in humans.
PEs varied with a continental range of 1.54% in North America to 4.17% in Europe.

Global meta-analysis on Babesia infections in human population: prevalence, distribution and species diversity
Solomon Ngutor Karshima, Magdalene Nguvan Karshima, Musa Isiyaku Ahmed
Pathogens and Global Health 2022 Jun;116(4):220-235. Epub 2021 Nov 17
https://doi.org/10.1080/20477724.2021.1989185

In this extensive study of 3521 patients with babesiosis in the United States, 4 in 10 patients had coinfecting tick-borne zoonoses.
The prevalence rates of coinfection were highest with 41% Borrelia burgdorferi, followed by 3.7% ehrlichiosis, and lowest with 0.3% anaplasmosis.
Doxycycline is not effectitive in babesiosis treatment.

Beyond Human Babesiosis: Prevalence and Association of Babesia Coinfection with Mortality in the United States, 2015-2022: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Paddy Ssentongo, Natasha Venugopal, Yue Zhang, Vernon M Chinchilli, Djibril M Ba
Open Forum Infectious Diseases 2024 Oct 8;11(10):ofae504. eCollection 2024 Oct
https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofae504

Facebook page for questions and discussion
www.facebook.com/groups/babesiatransfusion