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African Sleeping Sickness Symptoms

Human African trypanosomiasis, more commonly called African sleeping sickness, is caused by an infectious protozoic parasite that comes only from from Sub-Saharan Africa. There are two regional variations the disease--East African sleeping sickness and West African sleeping sickness. Both cause nearly identical symptoms, but each strain comes from different parts of the African continent.

  1. Method of Transmission

    • African sleeping sickness is spread by tsetse flies, which are found only in Africa. Tsetse flies acquire the protozoan parasites responsible for the disease from animals or humans who are already infected with the pathogen. Pregnant mothers also can transfer African sleeping sickness to their unborn children through the placenta.

    Initial Stage Symptoms

    • Initial symptoms arise one to four weeks after the victim is bitten. At that time, a painful sore called a chancre forms at the site of the bite.

    Second Stage Symptoms

    • Within months, symptoms such as swollen eyes. severe headaches, fatigue, joint pain, muscle aches and lymph-node swelling occur.

    Final Stage Symptoms

    • Seizures, loss of motor control, personality changes, confusion and long periods of sleep are signs of the final state of African sleeping sickness. Left untreated, the disease is is typically fatal within a year.

    Statistics

    • According to the World Health Organization, 25,000 new cases of African sleeping sickness are reported each year. Since 1967, 36 cases of African sleeping sickness have been reported by Americans who have returned from trips to Africa.

    Vaccination, Immunity and Treatment

    • There is no vaccine to protect against African sleeping sickness, and individuals who recover from the disease gain no immunity and can be reinfected at anytime.

      The prescribed treatment for African sleeping sickness depends upon how far the disease has progressed. The initial stage can be treated with pentamidine or suramin. The second stage of the disease is treatable with melarsoprol or eflornithine.

      There is no distinct point at which the final stage of African sleeping sickness becomes untreatable with second stage medications. However, the second stage medications can be toxic and require a regiment that is difficult to maintain. As such, the further the disease has progresses, the more dangerous and difficult it becomes to treat.

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