Human Babesiosis on Nantucket Island

Clinical Features

  1. TRENTON K. RUEBUSH II, M.D.;
  2. PAUL B. CASSADAY, M.D.;
  3. HOWARD J. MARSH, M.D.;
  4. SHELDON A. LISKER, M.D.;
  5. DAVID B. VOORHEES, M.D.;
  6. EARLE B. MAHONEY, M.D.; and
  7. GEORGE R. HEALY, Ph.D.
  1. Atlanta, Georgia; Nantucket, Massachusetts; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Abstract

    Between 20 July and 15 October 1975, five cases of human infection with Babesia microti were diagnosed on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. The illness was characterized by fever, drenching sweats, shaking chills, myalgia, arthralgia, extreme fatigue, and a mild-to-moderate hemolytic anemia. None of the patients had a history of splenectomy. Although all patients responded symptomatically to treatment with oral chloroquine phosphate, parasitemia and fatigue frequently persisted for several weeks to months.

    Article and Author Information

    • ▸From the Parasitic Diseases and Veterinary Public Health Division, Bureau of Epidemiology, Center for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; Atlanta, Georgia; Nantucket Cottage Hospital, Nantucket, Massachusetts; and the University of Pennsylvania Graduate Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

    • ▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Trenton K. Ruebush II, M.D.; Parasitic Diseases and Veterinary Public Health Division, Bureau of Epidemiology, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333.

      • Received May 27, 1976.
      • Accepted October 18, 1976.
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    This Article

    1. Ann Intern Med January 1, 1977 vol. 86 no. 1 6-9
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