ABSTRACT
The use of serologic tests for the diagnosis of human babesiosis has been pursued primarily in cases of B. microti infections. Although human babesiosis, especially the bovine and equine species, has been characterized by symptomatic and sometimes fatal infections, there is evidence of the occurrence of mild, self-limited, symptomatic or even asymptomatic infections. Human babesiosis, like other infectious diseases, runs the gamut from the asymptomatic to the severe, even fatal, presentation. The therapy of human B. microti infections has included a variety of antiparasitic agents. In the North American cases of non-B. microti infections, the latest reported case received chloroquine, quinine sulfate, and pyramethamine. B. divergens was the species identified in four cases, B. bovis in three, and the species was not identified in three cases. The inability of an autoanalyzer to discriminate between B. microti infected cells and normal erythrocytes points to the need for human microscopic examination of blood films.
