Volume 15, Number 5—May 2009
Dispatch
Probable Congenital Babesiosis in Infant, New Jersey, USA
Sonia Sethi, David Alcid, Hemant Kesarwala, and Robert W. Tolan
Table 2
Selected clinical data from the first 2 reported cases of congenital babesiosis (3,4) and the probable case described in this article*
| Clinical data | Reference case 1 | Reference case 2 | Present case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infant’s age at time of illness | 30 d | 5 wk | 26 d |
| Time of maternal tick bite before delivery |
1 wk |
7 wk |
4 wk |
| Serologic test results for Babesia spp. | |||
| Mother | Pos | Pos | Pos |
| Infant |
Pos |
Pos |
Pos |
| Clinical findings | Fever, irritability, pallor, hepatosplenomegaly | Lethargy, poor feeding, pallor | Fever, poor feeding, irritability, pallor, scleral icterus, hepatosplenomegaly |
| Parasitemia, % | 5 | 4.4 | 15 |
| Treatment (duration) | Ampicillin and gentamicin (3 d); clindamycin and quinine sulfate (10 d) | Clindamycin and quinine sulfate (12 d); azithromycin (10 d) | Ceftriaxone (8 d); atovaquone and azithromycin (10 d) |
*All infants’ history of tick exposure was negative, and all recovered.
