Sleeping sickness

Sleepy sickness, or African trypanosomiasis, is a parasitic disease of humans and animals that is common in Africa. Every year this pathology is diagnosed at least 25 thousand people.

The area, forms and causative agents of human sleep sickness

Sleeping sickness is common in the countries of the African continent, located to the south of the Sahara. In these areas live blood-sucking flies of tsetse, which are the carriers of this disease. There are two types of pathogens of this disease that affects people. These are unicellular organisms belonging to the genus Trypanosomes:

• Trupanosoma gambiense is the causative agent of the Gambian (West African) form of the disease, common in West and Central Africa near water bodies;
• Trypanosoma rhodesiense - causative agents of the Rhodesian (East African) form of the disease, common in East Africa, in savannahs.

Both pathogens are transmitted through the bites of infected tsetse flies. They attack a person in the daytime, while no clothing protects against these insects.

During a bite, tsetse flies trypanosomes enter the human blood. Rapidly multiplying, they are carried throughout the body. The peculiarity of these parasites is that each of their new generations produces a special protein, different from the previous one. In this regard, the human body does not have time to develop protective antibodies against them.

Symptoms of sleeping sickness

The manifestations of the two forms of the disease are similar, but the East African form in most cases is more acute and in the absence of therapy it can end in a lethal outcome in a short time. The East African form is characterized by slow progression and can last several years without treatment.

There are two stages of a sleeping sickness, having certain manifestations:

1. The first stage, when trypanosomes are still in the blood (1 to 3 weeks after infection):

• the appearance on the site of a bite of a painful nodule (as a rule, in non-indigenous inhabitants);
• fever;
• increased sweating;
• muscular tremor;
• headache;
• joint pain;
• itching;
• insomnia .

1. The second stage, when trypanosomes enter the central nervous system (after several weeks or months):

• intense headache;
• fever;
• apathy;
• general weakness;
• persistent drowsiness;
• motor disorders;
• convulsions ;
• coma.

Treatment of sleeping sickness

Before the invention of drugs for sleeping sickness, this pathology inevitably led to a lethal outcome. To date, the prospects for treatment are better the earlier the disease is diagnosed. Therapy is determined by the form of the disease, the severity of the lesion, the resistance of the pathogen to the drugs, the age and general condition of the patient. For the treatment of sleeping sickness, there are currently four main drugs:

1. Pentamidine is used to treat the Gambian form of African trypanosomiasis in the first stage.
2. Suramin - is used to treat the Rhodesian form of sleeping sickness in the first stage.
3. Melarsoprol - used in both forms of pathology in the second stage.
4. Eflornitin - used in the Gambian form of a sleeping sickness in the second stage.

These drugs are highly toxic, so they cause serious side effects and complications. In this regard, the treatment of sleeping sickness should be carried out only by qualified specialists in specialized clinics.

Measures to prevent sleeping sickness:

1. Refusal to visit places where there is a high risk of bite by tsetse flies.
2. Use of protective repellents.
3. Intramuscular injection of pentamidine every six months.