African Trypanosomiasis/Sleeping Sickness
Trypanosoma Brucei
Transmission
- The microscopic parasite is transmitted through the tsetse fly
Geography
- The tsetse fly is found only in rural Africa
- T. b. rhodesiense is found in eastern and southeastern Africa
- T. b. gambiense is found in central Africa and some parts of west Africa
History
Facts/Statistics
- With T. b. rhodesiense a few hundred cases are reported each year
- Animals are the main disease reservoir for T. b. rhodesiense
- With T. b. gambiense 7,000-10,000 reported cases yearly
- Humans are the main disease reservoir for T. b. gambiense
- There are a few written accounts of sleeping sickness before medieval times
- A lot of early research on the disease was due to slave traders trying to reduce losses
- Some slave traders knew the signs of the disease and avoided buying slaves with symptoms
Prevention/Treatment
- There are multiple drugs to treat the disease based on its stage and type
Biology
- Pentamidine, nifurtimox, suramin, eflornithine, melarsoprol
- Wear long sleeve shirts and thick pants, avoid bushes, check cars before entering, and use insect repellant
- The parasite is injected into the bloodstream from the saliva of the tsetse
- They transform into their effective form and spread in bloodstream
- They multiply and eventually reach the central nervous system
Signs/Symptoms
T. B. Gambiense
- Recurring fevers, headache, muscle ache, swollen lymph nodes, itchy skin, weight loss and feeling ill
- Second stage occurs between 1-2 years
- Personality changes, sleep irregularity, confusion, partial paralysis and, balance problems
- Most die after a few years and a few live six or seven years
T. B. Rhodesiense
- Chancre develops where the bite occurred
- Fever, swollen lymph nodes,muscle
aches, and headaches, and rash in the first couple weeks
- Second stage involves neurological
damage and death within months