Babesiosis is a less common but important tick-borne infectious disease. Over the last 50 years, an increasing number of cases have been reported worldwide, especially in the USA. The northern part of the US is an endemic area where the incidence has risen to 2,000 cases per year in the last decade. Babesia microti, a parasite of small rodents, is the cause of most of these infections in that region. In Europe, 56 autochthonous cases of human babesiosis have been reported since 1957. Most of them were caused by the species Babesia divergens, a parasite of cattle. Since 1992, 13 cases of B. microti infection have been imported from North America into Europe. The disease is serious especially for splenectomised and immunocompromised patients. Although the most important vector of babesiosis in Europe is the tick Ixodes ricinus, infection was transmitted through blood transfusion in number of patients, which can be fatal for immunosuppressed patients. The diagnosis of babesiosis is based on the identification of intraerythrocytic parasites in a blood smear, PCR detection of Babesia DNA, and determination of antibodies by serology and immunofluorescence assays. The disease is treated with antibiotics (azithromycin or clindamycin in a severe course of the disease) and quinine. The increase in human babesiosis is not only due to climate change and tick activity, outdoor leisure activities, and increased human migration, but an important role is also played by improved molecular methods and growing awareness of the disease.
巴贝斯虫病是一种不太常见但很重要的蜱传感染性疾病。在过去的 50 年中，全世界报告的病例数量不断增加，尤其是在美国。美国北部是该病的流行地区，在过去十年中，发病率已上升至每年 2000 例。小啮齿动物的寄生虫微小巴贝斯虫是该地区大多数感染的原因。在欧洲，自 1957 年以来已经报告了 56 例人类巴贝斯虫病的本地病例。其中大多数是由寄生虫巴贝斯虫 divergens 引起的，这种寄生虫是牛的寄生虫。自 1992 年以来，已经有 13 例 B. microti 感染病例从北美输入欧洲。该疾病对脾切除术和免疫功能低下的患者尤其严重。尽管欧洲最重要的巴贝斯虫病传播媒介是壁虱 Ixodes ricinus，但在许多患者中，感染是通过输血传播的，这对免疫抑制患者可能是致命的。巴贝斯虫病的诊断基于在血涂片上识别红细胞内寄生虫、PCR 检测巴贝斯虫 DNA 以及通过血清学和免疫荧光测定法确定抗体。该疾病用抗生素（阿奇霉素或克林霉素治疗严重疾病）和奎宁治疗。人类巴贝斯虫病的增加不仅是由于气候变化和蜱虫活动、户外活动和人类迁移增加所致，而且分子方法的改进和对该疾病的认识提高也发挥了重要作用。
