Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34210355›Full record

ArticleParasites & vectors2021

Long-term study of Borrelia and Babesia prevalence and co-infection in Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor recticulatus ticks removed from humans in Poland, 2016-2019.

Agnieszka Pawełczyk, Małgorzata Bednarska, Adrianna Hamera, Emilia Religa, Milena Poryszewska, Ewa J Mierzejewska, Renata Welc-Falęciak

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Parasites & vectors, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed
5.1field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

27 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  3. Babesiosis and Its Significance in Transfusion Medicine from a European Point of View.Transfusion medicine and hemotherapy : offizielles Organ der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Transfusionsmedizin und Immunhamatologie · 2026
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  6. Prevalence ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
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  9. Case report of ischemic stroke in a child secondary to neuroborreliosis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025
    Article
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  18. Article
  19. Co-Occurrence ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
    Article
  20. Coinfection ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Agnieszka PawełczykDepartment of Immunopathology of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Medical University of Warsaw, 3C Pawińskiego Street, 02-106, Warsaw, Poland.
Małgorzata BednarskaDepartment of Parasitology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 1 Miecznikowa Street, 02-096, Warsaw, Poland.
Adrianna HameraDepartment of Parasitology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 1 Miecznikowa Street, 02-096, Warsaw, Poland.
Emilia ReligaDepartment of Parasitology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 1 Miecznikowa Street, 02-096, Warsaw, Poland.
Milena PoryszewskaDepartment of Parasitology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 1 Miecznikowa Street, 02-096, Warsaw, Poland.
Ewa J MierzejewskaWild Urban Evolution and Ecology Lab, Centre of New Technologies, Banacha 2c Street, 02-097, Warsaw, Poland.
Renata Welc-FalęciakDepartment of Parasitology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 1 Miecznikowa Street, 02-096, Warsaw, Poland. rwelc@biol.uw.edu.pl.
University of Warsaw · PLMedical University of Warsaw · PL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common vector-borne disease in Europe. Monitoring changes in the prevalence of different Borrelia species in ticks may be an important indicator of risk assessment and of differences in pathogenicity in humans. The objective of our study was to assess the prevalence, co-infection and distribution of Borrelia and Babesia species in ticks removed from humans in a large sample collected during a study period of 4 years.

methodsThe ticks were collected throughout Poland from March to November over 4-year period from 2016 to 2019. All ticks (n = 1953) were morphologically identified in terms of species and developmental stage. Molecular screening for Borrelia and Babesia by amplification of the flagellin gene (flaB) or 18S rRNA marker was performed. Pathogen identity was confirmed by Sanger sequencing or PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.

resultsThe ticks removed from humans in Poland during this study belonged to two species: Ixodes ricinus (97%) and Dermacentor reticulatus (3%). High Borrelia prevalence (25.3%), including B. miyamotoi (8.4%), was confirmed in Ixodes ricinus ticks removed from humans, as was the change in frequency of occurrence of Borrelia species during the 4-year study. Despite Babesia prevalence being relatively low (1.3%), the majority of tested isolates are considered to be pathogenic to humans. Babesia infection was observed more frequently among Borrelia-positive ticks (2.7%) than among ticks uninfected with Borrelia (0.8%). The most frequent dual co-infections were between Borrelia afzelii and Babesia microti. The presence of Borrelia was also confirmed in D. reticulatus (12.7%); however the role of these ticks in spirochete transmission to susceptible hosts is still unclear.

conclusionsAlthough the overall risk of developing LB after a tick bite is low in Europe, knowledge of the prevalence and distribution of Borrelia and Babesia species in ticks might be an important indicator of the risk of both these tick-borne diseases.

Indexed as

CoinfectionAnimalsBabesiaBabesiosisBorreliaFemaleHumansIxodesLongitudinal StudiesLyme DiseaseMalePolandPrevalenceTick-Borne DiseasesBabesiaBabesiosisBorreliaCo-infectionLyme borreliosisTick-borne diseasesTicks

Identifiers

PMID34210355
PMCPMC8252237
OpenAlexW3175898884

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.