The standard course is 7 to 10 days, but this is extended to at least 6 weeks in people with relapsing disease. Even mild cases are recommended to be treated to decrease the chance of inadvertently transmitting the infection by donating blood. In severe babesiosis, the combination of clindamycin and quinine is preferred. In life-threatening cases, exchange transfusion is performed. In this procedure, the infected red blood cells are removed and replaced with uninfected ones. Imizol is a drug used for treatment of babesiosis in dogs. Extracts of the poisonous, bulbous plant Boophone disticha are used in the folk medicine of South Africa to treat equine babesiosis. B. disticha is a member of the daffodil family Amaryllidaceae and has also been used in preparations employed as arrow poisons, hallucinogens, and in embalming. The plant is rich in alkaloids, some of which display an action similar to that of scopolamine. Epidemiology
Babesiosis is a vector-borne illness usually transmitted by Ixodes scapularis ticks. B. microti uses the same tick vector as Lyme disease, and may occur in conjunction with Lyme. The organism can also be transmitted by blood transfusion. Ticks of domestic animals, especially Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus and R. (B.) decoloratus transmit several species of Babesia to livestock, causing considerable economic losses to farmers in tropical and subtropical regions.In the United States, the majority of babesiosis cases are caused by B. microti, and occur in the Northeast and northern Midwest from May through October.
Salla disease (SD) is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease characterized by early physical impairment and intellectual disability. It was first described in 1979, after Salla, a municipality in Finnish Lapland. Salla disease is one of 40 Finnish heritage diseases and affects approximately 130 individuals, mainly from Finland and Sweden. Presentation
Individuals with Salla disease may present with nystagmus in the first months of life as well as hypotonia, reduced muscle tone and strength, and cognitive impairment. The most severely impaired children do not walk or acquire language, but the typical patient learns to walk and speak and has normal life expectancy. The MRI shows arrested or delayed myelination. Genetics
SD is caused by a mutation in the SLC17A5 gene, located at human chromosome 6q14-15. This gene codes for sialin, a lysosomal membrane protein that transports the charged sugar, N-acetylneuraminic acid (sialic acid), out of lysosomes. The mutation causes sialic acid to build up in the cells.The disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. This means the defective gene responsible for the disorder is located on an autosome (chromosome 6 is an autosome), and two copies of the defective gene (one inherited from each parent) are required in order to be born with the disorder. The parents of an individual with an autosomal recessive disorder both carry one copy of the defective gene, but usually do not experience any signs or symptoms of the disorder. Diagnosis
A diagnosis of this disorder can be made by measuring urine to look for elevated levels of free sialic acid.