THE HUFFINGTON POST - You’ve probably heard of Lyme disease, the tick-borne illness that is known to infect people and dogs who spend time outside. But Lyme disease is only one of a number of tick-borne diseases that can infect humans.
Cases of Lyme disease are rising in the United States, along with cases of babesiosis, another tick-borne disease that tends to crop up in the spring and summer.
Deer ticks are commonly infected with both of the pathogens that cause Lyme disease and babesiosis, which means co-infection in humans is also common, according to Karine Le Roch, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease and Vector Research at the University of California, Riverside.
But there are more cases of Lyme disease than babesiosis because babesiosis needs the help of Lyme disease to spread, Vannier said.
So, while not all Lyme disease infections also mean you have babesiosis, it is important to know that it is common. Additionally, those who are infected with both have a greater number of symptoms and have a longer duration of disease, Vannier said. Lyme disease symptoms include a bulls-eye rash, fever, fatigue, joint stiffness and muscle weakness, according to the Mayo Clinic.