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Article: Better blood screening process needed to prevent babesiosis transmission.
- Article from:
- NewsRx Health & Science
- Article date:
- November 8, 2009
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 NewsRX. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Babesiosis is a potentially dangerous parasitic disease transmitted by ticks and is common in the Northeast and the upper Midwest. Babesia lives inside of red blood cells, meaning it can also be transmitted through a blood transfusion from an infected but otherwise asymptomatic blood donor.
Now a new study led by researchers at Rhode Island and The Miriam hospitals finds a dramatic increase in the number of transfusion-transmitted babesiosis cases (TTB), leading the investigators to call for a better screening test in blood donors living in areas of the country where babesiosis is prevalent. Their paper is published in an upcoming edition of the journal ...