African Sleeping Sickness
African Sleeping Sickness
Human African Trypanosomiasis, known as sleeping sickness, is a vector-borne parasitic disease. Trypanosoma which are the parasites are protozoa transmitted to humans by tsetse flies. Tsetse flies live in Africa, and they are found in vegetation by rivers and lakes, gallery-forests and vast stretches of wooded savannah.
Sleeping sickness occurs only in sub-Saharan Africa, in regions where tsetse flies are endemic. There are many regions where tsetse flies are found, but sleeping sickness is not. The rural populations that live in such environments and depend on the flies for agriculture, fishing, animal husbandry or hunting are the most exposed - along with their livestock - to the bite of the tsetse fly. Sleeping …show more content…
However, only 3 to 4 million of these people are under surveillance and the 45,000 cases reported in 1999 do not reflect the reality of the situation, but simply show the absence of case detection. The estimated number of people thought to have the disease is between 300,000 and 500,000. In Uganda two thirds of all deaths are cause by sleeping sickness. Most people with sleeping sickness die before they can ever be diagnosed (WHO, …show more content…
From this site of injection, the parasite invades the blood stream causing episodes of fever, headache, sweating, and enlargement of the lymph nodes. Parasites then invade the central nervous system where they produce the symptoms typical of sleeping sickness. Then the parasites invade the brain, causing first behavioral changes such as fear and mood swings followed by headache, fever, and weakness. Death may occur within 6 months from cardiac failure. Gambiense-infected people develop drowsiness during the day, but insomnia at night. Sleep becomes uncontrollable as the disease progresses until the patient becomes exhausted (Ford, 1979).
Risk factors include living in those parts of Africa where the disease is found and being bit by tsetse flies. The incidence is extremely low in the U.S., and is only found in travelers from those areas. For prevention Pentamidine injections protect against Gambiense, but have not yet been demonstrated as effective against Rhodesiense. Insect control could help prevent the spread of sleeping sickness. Wearing long sleeve shirts and avoiding areas that are filled with bugs will also help reduce the risk of getting
Human African Trypanosomiasis, known as sleeping sickness, is a vector-borne parasitic disease. Trypanosoma which are the parasites are protozoa transmitted to humans by tsetse flies. Tsetse flies live in Africa, and they are found in vegetation by rivers and lakes, gallery-forests and vast stretches of wooded savannah.
Sleeping sickness occurs only in sub-Saharan Africa, in regions where tsetse flies are endemic. There are many regions where tsetse flies are found, but sleeping sickness is not. The rural populations that live in such environments and depend on the flies for agriculture, fishing, animal husbandry or hunting are the most exposed - along with their livestock - to the bite of the tsetse fly. Sleeping …show more content…
However, only 3 to 4 million of these people are under surveillance and the 45,000 cases reported in 1999 do not reflect the reality of the situation, but simply show the absence of case detection. The estimated number of people thought to have the disease is between 300,000 and 500,000. In Uganda two thirds of all deaths are cause by sleeping sickness. Most people with sleeping sickness die before they can ever be diagnosed (WHO, …show more content…
From this site of injection, the parasite invades the blood stream causing episodes of fever, headache, sweating, and enlargement of the lymph nodes. Parasites then invade the central nervous system where they produce the symptoms typical of sleeping sickness. Then the parasites invade the brain, causing first behavioral changes such as fear and mood swings followed by headache, fever, and weakness. Death may occur within 6 months from cardiac failure. Gambiense-infected people develop drowsiness during the day, but insomnia at night. Sleep becomes uncontrollable as the disease progresses until the patient becomes exhausted (Ford, 1979).
Risk factors include living in those parts of Africa where the disease is found and being bit by tsetse flies. The incidence is extremely low in the U.S., and is only found in travelers from those areas. For prevention Pentamidine injections protect against Gambiense, but have not yet been demonstrated as effective against Rhodesiense. Insect control could help prevent the spread of sleeping sickness. Wearing long sleeve shirts and avoiding areas that are filled with bugs will also help reduce the risk of getting