Red blood cell transfusion dramatically cuts risk of death from tick-borne babesiosis

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By Olivia Bowthorpe

Patients with severe babesiosis, a dangerous tick-borne infection, are significantly less likely to die if they are treated with red blood cell exchange transfusion, a study suggests.

The disease, a parasitic infection that destroys red blood cells, is becoming more widespread in the US, Europe, and Asia and, although rare in the UK, questions have been raised about possible underdiagnosis.