Warning Signs Of Babesiosis
Chills
Chills is a term used to describe when an individual feels sensations of coldness and experiences shivering. When an individual is running a high fever, they will feel cold even if they are not in a cold environment. This cold feeling with a fever is what best characterizes chills that occur due to the presence of some sort of infection in the individual's body. The Babesia microti pathogen causes the patient's immune system to release prostaglandins and cytokines that cause an increase in the set temperature of the internal thermostat of the body. This temperature increase is meant to make the patient's body an inhospitable environment for the infection-causing pathogen. Because the temperature of the air around the individual is lower than their body temperature, they will feel cold. The shivers occur because a mechanism in the body is triggered where the muscles contract involuntarily to help produce more heat.
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Excessive Sweating
Excessive sweating reported by individuals with babesiosis tends to occur most often at night when they are sleeping. Many patients describe the sweating to be so excessive that it drenches their bedclothes and or sheets to the point where they need to be changed for them to go back to bed. Babesiosis patients tend to experience this type of excessive sweating at a consistent frequency of several times per week. Sweating is a mechanism implemented by the body when the individual's temperature becomes too high. The skin releases fluid and salt onto the surface of the skin, where it evaporates into the air and takes body heat along with it. It is healthy for an individual to sweat in conditions of extreme heat, but it is not normal for them to sweat excessively in a temperature-controlled environment when they are at rest. Sweating occurs in babesiosis patients because the internal thermostat is set at a higher temperature than normal to create a hostile environment for the pathogen causing babesiosis.
