Nantucket disease

Nantucket disease

A blood-borne infection by Babesia microti, an intertriginous cyst-forming parasite, named after an island off Massachusetts, occurring along the entire eastern seaboard of the US Reservoir White-footed mouse Vector Ixodes dammini–'Lyme disease' tick; in Europe, it is most common in splenectomized Pts and often fatal; in the US, it is rarely fatal; splenectomized subjects comprise¹⁄₃ of cases Clinical 1-3 wk incubation, malaise, fatigue, anorexia, shaking chills, fever, headache, myalgias, mental depression, emotional lability Treatment Clindamycin, quinacrine

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.