Log in
|
Help
|
English

English

Engish-Pirate

한국어

Search

Advanced Search

Find results with:

Add another field

Search by date

to

Searching collections:

CCSU Theses and Dissertations

Add or remove collections

Home CCSU Theses & Dissertations Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in a collection of ticks from Greenwich,...

Reference URL

Share

Add tags

Comment

Rate

To link to this object, paste this link in email, IM or document

To embed this object, paste this HTML in website

Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in a collection of ticks from Greenwich, Connecticut

View Description

Download

small (250x250 max)

medium (500x500 max)

large ( > 500x500)

Full Resolution

Print

you wish to report:

Your comment:

Your Name:

Submit

Cancel

...

Back to top

Powered by CONTENTdm®

Select the collections to add or remove from your search

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Select All Collections

C

CCSU Student Publications

CCSU Theses and Dissertations

G

GLBTQ Archives

M

Modern Language Oral Histories

O

O'Neill Archives Oral Histories

P

Polish American Pamphlets

T

Treasures from the Special Collections

V

Veterans History Project

OK

Cancel

Identifier	Thesis 1876
Author	Perez-Ghannam, Yvette
Title	Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in a collection of ticks from Greenwich, Connecticut
Publisher	Central Connecticut State University
Date	2006
Resource Type	Master's Thesis
Notes	Tick-borne diseases have become a principal public health concern in the United States due to the tremendous increase in human contact with deer. This concern has been reflected in Connecticut as well in recent years. With changing demographic patterns that have seen more people moving into rural areas and an overall increase in outdoor recreational activity statewide, Connecticut residents have had a legitimately heightened concern about the potential negative impact of tick-borne diseases. According to the CT State Health Department, Connecticut had the highest reported incidence of Lyme disease of any state (97.8 cases per 100,000 people in 1999). According to the CDC, in the years from 1991-2000, 230 people were diagnosed with Babesiosis. In 2002, two more patients were diagnosed by Greenwich Hospital. To assess the potential risk of co-infections with Lyme disease after a bite from the tick Ixodes scapularis, we tested approximately 79 ticks from the Greenwich, CT area for the presence of both Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti. According to John Anderson of the CT Agricultural Station, Babesiosis infection had been found in previous years in patients living in Greenwich (personal communication). Patients at risk from tick bites can be co-infected with two or more of these organisms, which seriously complicates Lyme disease prognosis and treatment. Babesiosis mostly affects the elderly or immunocompromised, and may be a common secondary infection if the bacteria are also in Borrelia-infected ticks. The experimental technique used in this study was PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), which is a very sensitive method to amplify DNA. PCR is an in vitro method for the specific amplification of DNA. Molecular and cellular biology have proved fast, simple, and powerful tools in Clinical diagnostics, therapy, epidemiological investigations, and also in infection control. Our results show no co-infection with Babesia in the 79 Borrelia-infected sample ticks we tested. From this data we conclude that simultaneous infection with both Borrelia and Babesia is unlikely from a single tick bite. Further study of more Borrelia-infected ticks should confirm our results. Knowing the risk of Babesiosis from a single tick bite will be important for the medical field in general, but even more important to residents of Greenwich, Connecticut. Such knowledge will help physicians be aware of the possibility that patients can be co-infected with the etiologic agent of tick-borne disease as Babesiosis in addition to Lyme disease. Since there are no standardized screening tests with a specificity greater than 95% available for patients with Lyme disease and Babesiosis, research priority should be given to developing new, more precise diagnostic techniques and also to the development of appropriate vaccines.
Subject	Tick-borne diseases -- Connecticut -- Greenwich Babesia Borrelia burgdorferi Ticks -- Connecticut -- Greenwich
Department	Department of Biological Sciences
Advisor	Martin-Troy, Kathy
Type	Text
Digital Format	application/pdf
Language	eng
OCLC number	713734992
Rating

Find results with:

Searching collections:

Home CCSU Theses & Dissertations Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in a collection of ticks from Greenwich,...

Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in a collection of ticks from Greenwich, Connecticut

Description

Tags

Comments