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Evaluation of the Immune Response and Antigenic Signature of Patients with Babesia Infection in Pennsylvania with the Aim of Developing a Rapid Diagnostic Test
We are evaluating patients who have been infected with Babesia. Babesia is a blood parasite that is acquired from ticks. The number of cases seen in Pennsylvania every year has been increasing. We intend to evaluate the blood of patients acutely infected with Babesiosis and review for possible simultaneous co-infections. We will compare those infected patients with the blood of healthy individuals. The goal is to identify proteins in the blood of acutely infected patients that are specific for Babesia and also evaluate the prevalence of patient's who have contracted a co-infection from the tick vector that transmitted the Babesia infection. The identification of the specific bacterial/parasitic antigens could then be used to create rapid diagnostic tests and help clinicians increase awareness of these tick-borne diseases.
We will obtain basic demographic information and past medical history. We will obtain two 10ml samples of blood. The blood will then be stored and ultimately sent to Antigen Discovery, Inc for proteomic array screening.
18 years or older
History of having your spleen removed
History of liver or kidney disease
HIV
Diabetes