Fitness star left paralyzed from waist down after tick bite... as US suffers worst-ever outbreak
But Maria Palen, 31, from California, has told how her life was turned upside down after a tick bite left her paralyzed from the waist down.
The brunette initially experienced inflammation and joint pain, so she switched to a plant-based diet and started working out more in a bid to get her health back on track.
But her symptoms got worse instead of better and the pain became so severe that by March 2024, she was left bedbound.
The chemical engineer, who has more than 20,000 followers on Instagram, became unable to complete everyday tasks such as locking her phone screen or opening a tin of tuna.
After visiting a functional doctor, she was diagnosed with babesiosis - a disease caused by parasites that infect red blood cells, often transmitted through the bite of an infected tick.
Maria's story comes as experts say this year is the worst tick season on record due to a milder winter across the US, which kept more animals alive that act as hosts to ticks.
The fitness enthusiast believes she was likely bitten by a tick while hiking or enjoying the outdoors potentially years ago and not been aware of the infection.
Maria was given medication to help eradicate the parasite but in October 2024 she started to experience pain in her tailbone that was so severe that she was unable to sit down.
Maria was rushed to the emergency room and given pain medication but her symptoms worsened and she was soon numb and paralyzed from the waist down.
She said: 'I have no idea [when the tick bite might have happened].
'I think it got so bad because [the bite and infection] went undetected for so long because I didn't know that I had it.
'I think that if I had detected it sooner, it wouldn't have got to the stage that I'm at now.
'For the entire of 2024 I was in so much pain that it was hard to do simple tasks.
'My thumb hurt so bad and it was so swollen and inflamed that it was hard to lock my phone.
'Basic things like brushing my teeth in the morning, opening a can of tuna, and driving were painful.
'I couldn't go to the gym anymore. I was 145lbs when I was lifting heavy and then immediately, I went down to 128lbs. I lost that within the three weeks I was bedridden.'
Maria is currently receiving physical therapy for eight hours each week and is hopeful that one day she will be able to regain the feeling in her legs.
Reflecting on how the disease has impacted her life, Maria said: 'I'm so used to waking up at 4am, going to the gym and then going to work.
'I'm so used to a busy lifestyle, so it's been hard mentally because I can't do all the things I loved.
'I have to let it play its course. Hopefully the nerves heal and I can get back to my old life.
'I'm bored now because I don't really go out. It's been an adjustment. I'm trying to stay as positive as possible just because it will help with the healing process.
'I try and look at the small wins. I am getting some movement back in my legs after the six months.
'I'm just taking it day by day and trying to stay positive and pray that I am able to get full recovery but it's an unknown.
'Not knowing whether I will get full recovery or not is the hard part.'
Human cases of babesiosis have more than doubled in a decade in the US, a trend some say is linked to climate change and clearing more land for development.
Only about 2,500 cases are officially diagnosed each year, but scientists warn many are likely flying under the radar because doctors don't know to test for it.
Infections are rising across the mid-west, northeast and the west and are most common in the summer months when ticks are active.
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, say they have decoded the first-ever high quality genome of one of the microbes behind the illness.
They say this will help develop tools to diagnose the disease and new treatments for the disease that can also cause organ failure and an enlarged spleen and liver.
Babesia are single-celled organisms that normally circulate between ticks and deer, but can also infect humans via tick bites.
Patients show symptoms one to six weeks after bites which initially appear similar to malaria, including a fever, headache and muscle pains.
This graph, provided by the CDC, shows how many cases of babesiosis have been recorded in the US by year. In 2011 there were just over 1,000 cases, but now this has grown to 2,500
But in serious cases they can progress to organ failure, a swollen spleen or liver and anemia — driven by the pathogen destroying red blood cells.
Estimates suggest about 0.5 percent of all patients die from the disease. But among the elderly and immunocompromised, the death rate can be as high as 20 percent.
The disease can be treated with antibiotic and anti-parasite drugs azithromycin and atovaquone.
About 2,500 people are diagnosed with the infection every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), up from just over 1,000 from a decade beforehand.
But over recent years, the agency has warned that the disease is becoming more prevalent in eight of ten states that monitor for the infection, especially in the northeast.
But many cases are missed because patients may be co-infected with Lyme disease. Experts also say that while most doctors are aware of Lyme disease, not as many know about babesiosis or the warning signs to look out for.
Healthy people who become infected are also unlikely to develop symptoms.
Columbia University scientists say up to 20 percent of older patients who catch the disease die from the illness.
There are two types of microbes behind the illness named babesia microti — which is spread by the deer tick in the summer months — and B. duncani — spread by the winter tick in the fall and early winter.
For their study, researchers analyzed the genetics behind B. duncani for the first time.
They also built its 3D structure using a computer, finding that it closely resembled the parasite behind malaria or Plasmodium falciparum.
They said this may have helped it evolve ways to dodge immunity.
The CDC revealed in 2023 that cases rose in eight of ten states that were reporting babesiosis cases from 2011 to 2019. The uptick was 25 percent.
At the same time, cases of Lyme disease — which can be confused with the illness — rose by 44 percent.
The disease also became endemic in three new states: Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Previously, it was only considered endemic in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
Babesiosis was first detected in the US in 1969.
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