How is african sleeping sickness caused

Skin Blood and lymph nodes Brain and cerebrospinal fluid. More Information. Parasitic Infections: Extraintestinal Protozoa. Test your knowledge. Dengue is a viral infection that causes fever, aches throughout the body, and, in severe cases, bleeding in multiple areas. How is the dengue virus transmitted? More Content. Click here for the Professional Version. Sleeping sickness occurs only in equatorial Africa. In African trypanosomiasis, different parts of the body are affected in the following order:.

Brain and cerebrospinal fluid the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Examination of a sample of blood or fluid from a lymph node. People can reduce their chances of being bitten by a tsetse fly by doing the following:. Wearing heavy long-sleeve tops and long pants: Tsetse flies can bite through thin clothes.

Using insect repellents as needed, although they may not be effective against tsetse flies. Drugs that are effective against these protozoa.

Treatment of African sleeping sickness varies by species and stage of disease. Suramin for rhodesiense. Eflornithine only for gambiense. Was This Page Helpful? Yes No. Insect Bites. Control efforts have reduced the number of annual cases and for the first time in 50 years, the number of reported cases fell under 10, in Sleeping sickness is curable with medication but is fatal if left untreated. Image: Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in a Giemsa-stained blood smear.

Credit: DPDx. After many weeks, the infection may become meningoencephalitis. This is an infection of the brain and the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. As the illness gets worse, symptoms may include:.

If left untreated, death will occur within several weeks to months. The symptoms of African sleeping sickness may look like other health problems. Always see your healthcare provider for a diagnosis. See a healthcare provider as soon as possible if you think you are infected. Tests can find the parasite. These tests may include blood samples and a spinal tap lumbar puncture.

Your provider may also take a sample of chancre fluid or tissue, or fluid from swollen lymph nodes. Treatment will depend on your symptoms, age, and general health. It will also depend on how severe the condition is. Medicine is available to treat the disease. You will need to stay in the hospital. After you go home, you will need follow-up exams for about 2 years. These will include a spinal tap. Because this infection is so rare, your healthcare provider may talk with an infectious disease or tropical medicine specialist.

If the disease is not treated, the symptoms can worsen to a severe illness. Death will occur. No vaccine or medicine can prevent African sleeping sickness. But you can prevent being bitten by tsetse flies. If you have any other comments or suggestions, please let us know at comment yourgenome. Can you spare minutes to tell us what you think of this website?

Open survey. In: Facts Targeting Disease. What is trypanosomiasis? Trypanosomiasis refers to a group of diseases caused by Trypanosoma parasites. There are two types of trypanosomiasis that affect humans, they are divided according to their geographical location: African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, is caused by Trypanosoma brucei parasites in sub-Saharan Africa and is transmitted by the tsetse fly Glossina.

Trypanosomiasis can also affect animals.