Parasitology Reference and Research Laboratory, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, 28220, Madrid, Spain.
Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo University School of Medicine, Oviedo, Spain.
Parasit Vectors. 2023 Jun 9;16(1):195. doi: 10.1186/s13071-023-05817-x.
Babesiosis is a globally growing tick-borne disease in humans. Severe babesiosis caused by Babesia divergens has been reported in two patients from Asturias (Northwestern Spain), suggesting an undetected risk for the disease. To analyze this risk, we retrospectively evaluated the seroprevalence of babesiosis in the Asturian population from 2015 through 2017, a period covering the intermediate years in which these two severe cases occurred.
Indirect fluorescent assay (IFA) and Western blot (WB) were performed to detect B. divergens IgG antibodies in 120 serum samples from Asturian patients infected with the tick-transmitted spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, a condition that indicates exposure to tick bites.
This retrospective study confirmed a B. divergens seroprevalence rate of 39.2% according to IFA results. B. divergens incidence was 7.14 cases/100,000 population, exceeding previously reported seroprevalence rates. No differences in epidemiology and risk factors were found between patients infected solely with B. burgdorferi s.l. and those infected with B. burgdorferi s.l. and with IgG antibodies against B. divergens. This last group of patients lived in Central Asturias, had a milder clinical course and, according to WB results, developed different humoral responses against B. divergens.
Babesia divergens parasites have circulated for several years in Asturias. Epidemiological evidence of babesiosis makes Asturias an emerging risk area for this zoonosis. Human babesiosis could also be relevant in other Spanish and European regions affected by borreliosis. Hence, the potential risk of babesiosis on human health in Asturias and other European forest regions needs to be addressed by the health authorities.
巴贝斯虫病是一种在人类中呈全球性增长趋势的蜱传疾病。在西班牙西北部的阿斯图里亚斯（Asturias）报告了两例由分歧巴贝斯虫（Babesia divergens）引起的严重巴贝斯虫病，这表明该疾病存在未被发现的风险。为了分析这种风险，我们回顾性评估了 2015 年至 2017 年期间阿斯图里亚斯人群中巴贝斯虫病的血清流行率，这一时期涵盖了这两例严重病例发生的中间年份。
间接荧光抗体测定（IFA）和 Western blot（WB）用于检测 120 例感染 tick 传播螺旋体伯氏疏螺旋体（Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato）的阿斯图里亚斯患者血清中的 B. divergens IgG 抗体，这表明暴露于 tick 叮咬。
这项回顾性研究根据 IFA 结果证实了 B. divergens 的血清流行率为 39.2%。B. divergens 的发病率为每 10 万人中有 7.14 例，超过了先前报告的血清流行率。仅感染 B. burgdorferi s.l.的患者和感染 B. burgdorferi s.l.和 IgG 抗体的患者之间，在流行病学和危险因素方面没有差异。后一组患者居住在阿斯图里亚斯中部，临床表现较轻，根据 WB 结果，对 B. divergens 产生了不同的体液反应。
巴贝斯虫属寄生虫在阿斯图里亚斯已经流行了几年。巴贝斯虫病的流行病学证据使阿斯图里亚斯成为该动物病的一个新兴风险地区。人类巴贝斯虫病也可能在受伯氏疏螺旋体病影响的其他西班牙和欧洲地区具有相关性。因此，卫生当局需要解决阿斯图里亚斯和其他欧洲森林地区人类健康面临的潜在巴贝斯虫病风险。
