Vertical Transmission ofBabesia microti, United States

• DOI: 10.3201/eid1808.110988
• Publication Date: 2012-06-27T05:55:09Z
• Authors: Julie T. Joseph; Kerry Purtill; Susan J. Wong; Jose Munoz; Allen Teal; Susan Madison-Ant...; Harold W. Horowitz; Maria E. Aguero-R...; Julie M. Moore; Carlos Abramowsky; Gary P. Wormser
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; placenta; Placenta; Antibodies, Protozoan; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Babesia microti; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Pregnancy; Babesiosis; Animals; Humans; bacteria; transmission; babesiosis; R; Dispatch; Infant; DNA, Protozoan; infant; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; United States; 3. Good health; Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic; Medicine; Female

Babesiosis is usually acquired from a tick bite or through a blood transfusion. We report a case of babesiosis in an infant for whom vertical transmission was suggested by evidence of Babesia spp. antibodies in the heel-stick blood sample and confirmed by detection of Babesia spp. DNA in placenta tissue.