Publications by authors named "Patrick Villafuerte"
Objectives: Anemia and thrombocytopenia are expected hematologic abnormalities in patients with acute babesiosis, whereas neutropenia (defined as an absolute neutrophil count of ≤1,800 neutrophils/μL for adults and <1,200 neutrophils/μL for infants) is not usually considered a feature of this infection. We studied the frequency with which neutropenia occurs in congenital and adult cases of babesiosis.
Methods: The frequency of neutropenia in cases of congenital babesiosis was determined based on a literature review and on the findings in an unreported case.
Article Synopsis
- A real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to measure the amount of Babesia microti DNA in the blood of 36 infected patients, mostly older males, showing a strong correlation between DNA copy number and infected red blood cells.
- The study noted that while blood smears could test negative for the parasite, qPCR could still show positive results, indicating ongoing infection.
- Data suggested that DNA levels decreased significantly with treatment, allowing for potential evaluation of different antiparasitic therapies, although detecting the DNA does not confirm the parasites are still alive.
Babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne disease mainly caused Babesia microti, a protozoan that infects erythrocytes. Microscopic examination of blood smears is the current gold standard for detection of Babesia infection, but this diagnostic test has several limitations. We developed and assessed the clinical utilization of a multiplex real-time PCR assay targeting the 18S rRNA gene of B.
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