African Sleeping Sickness : What is it really about?

If you are looking for cool information on African Sleeping Sickness, this is your one stop shop. Read on. African sleeping sickness, also known as Trypanosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by protozoa Trypanosoma brucei and is transmitted by Tsetse Fly.

The disease is particular to Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa. The disease has decreased over the years but 50,000 to 70,000 people are currently infected. The sickness is caused by a parasite and can be transmitted by the bite of a Tsetse Fly. There are two types of this disease, West African Trypanosomiasis  and East African Trypanosomiasis. West African Trypanosomiasis is chronic and can last many years and it is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. East African Trypanosomiasis can  last weeks and is caused by Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. Three major epidemics have ever occurred. The first one was from 1896–1906 , followed by the  second one in 1920 and 1970. The last one was in Uganda in 2008. African Nations most affected are:

• Uganda
• Kenya
• Tanzania
• Ethiopia
• Zaire
• Zimbabwe
• Malawi
• Botswana

Tsetse flies inhabit rural areas and dense vegetations, so urban dwellers are not  liable to be infected.

Sleeping Sickness Symptoms.
First Phase.
As the Tsetse Fly bites, the parasite enters the blood and lymph systems and the lymph nodes swell to tremendous sizes. Among  the symptoms of this disease, the most empathic is the Winterbottom's sign, in which swollen lymph nodes appear at the back of the neck. If the patient goes untreated for a long time, the parasite begins to shut down the body’s defensive system and symptoms such as anaemia, endocrine, cardiac, and kidney disease may set in.

Second Phase.
The symptom of the second phase gives the disease its name. Besides  confusion and reduced concentration it comes with heavy fatigue which induces daytime sleep and insomnia at night .This disease if not treated in time can lead to mental decline and permanent brain damage and eventually death. There have also been cases of mother to child infection. The parasite can infect the baby in the womb and cause it’s death. Another cause is blood transfusion.

These symptoms usually occur within 1-4 weeks of infection and come with many symptoms including, fever, skin lesions, rash, edema, or swollen lymph nodes on the back of the neck. The infection can later degenerate into meningoencephalitis. General Symptoms of African Sleeping Sickness include:

• Swollen lymph nodes
• Skin rash
• Aching joints
• Severe headaches
• Slurred speech
• Seizures
• progressive confusion
• loss of concentration
• irritability
• difficulty walking and talking
• Sleepiness
• Lethargy
• Enlarged spleen
• Coma
• Anaemia
• Enlarged lymph glands
• Central nervous system symptoms
• Convulsions
• Lymphadenopathy
• Myocarditis
• Brain symptoms
• Malaise
• Skin eruptions
• Aching muscles
• Tremors
• Personality changes
• Chancre
• Irritability
• Red sore
• Coma
• Death

To mention just a few. Death can occur within several weeks to months.

TREATMENT FOR AFRICAN SLEEPING SICKNESS.
Once you notice that you are infected with the disease, you should seek medical attention immediately. Based on a number of criteria including your :

• Medical History
• Your Age and present medical condition
• Extent of the disease

The medical officer can determine the cause of action in treating you.  According to Wikipedia the treatment usually comes in two stages depending on the extent to which the illness has progressed.

TREATMENT FOR STAGE 1.
The first standard treatments in stage one are ,

•  Intravenous pentamidine (for T.b. gambiense); or
• Intravenous suramin (for T.b. rhodesiense)

TREATMENT FOR STAGE 2
The first standard treatments in stage two are ,

• Intravenous melarsoprol 2.2 mg/kg daily for 10 consecutive days. or
• Intravenous melarsoprol 0.6 mg/kg on day 1, 1.2 mg/kg iv melarsoprol on day 2, and 1.2 mg/kg/day iv melarsoprol combined with oral 7.5 mg/kg nifurtimox twice a day on days 3 to 10;
• Intravenous eflornithine 50 mg/kg every six hours for 14 days.

CONCLUSION.
African sleeping sickness is curable. It hardly occurs inside the US, except in cases of Americans visiting African game parks and getting the infection. Normal insecticides don’t work against Tsetse flies and they are attracted to contrasting colors and fast moving objects.Presently there is no vaccine against sleeping sickness.Moves have been made by the WHO and UN to wipe out  African sleeping sickness and research is going on to help curb the illness and if possible eradicate it.

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