Sleep disease is a deadly disease that affects 60,000 people in Africa every year. Now, a scientist in Scotland says they may have discovered a new treatment method.
Sleeping sickness spreads due to the bite of the tsetse fly. This fly can transmit parasites that infect the human central nervous system. Initially the infection causes fever, headache, itching on the skin and weakness.
Then the parasite enters the brain and causes more serious problems. Patients will feel convulsions and have difficulty thinking, and sleep longer. If the disease is not treated, the victim usually never gets up from sleep, and dies
Paul Wyatt of the Discovery Medicine program for Tropical Diseases at the University of Dundee, Scotland, led the study of this disease. He said research found weaknesses in the parasite. This weakness is an enzyme called M-myristoyl Transferase or NMT which is needed by parasites to live.
The earlier that sleeping sickness is diagnosed and treated, the greater the chances for recovery. Diagnosis is made by microscopic examination of blood and lymph for the presence of trypanosomes and of cerebrospinal fluid for increased levels of white blood cells. Information obtained from these tests is then used to determine the stage of disease and course of treatment.
Suramin is effective for early stages of East African sleeping sickness. Eflornithine is used for the early stages of the West African type, with pentamidine used as an alternative. For later stages involving the central nervous system, the West African form is treated with eflornithine. The highly toxic organoarsenic agent melarsoprol may used as a second-line agent against the East African form. All treatment of T. brucei rhodesiense infection is useless once the fulminating toxemic stage has developed. Researchers have been investigating eflornithine-based combination therapies for West African sleeping sickness. The most effective combination has been eflornithine used in conjunction with nifurtimox, an agent used to treat Chagas disease.
Prevention
In the early 21st century the majority of sleeping sickness cases occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which reported about 1,000 new cases each year. By 2015, with the exception of the DRC, most other African countries had reported fewer than 100 cases annually, and many others had not reported a case in more than a decade. The dramatic decline in sleeping sickness cases was attributed to intensive control efforts, which included the isolation and proper treatment of all infected persons (including large numbers of asymptomatic chronic carriers) and the protection of humans from bites of tsetse flies by using insecticides and by maintaining extensive clearings around villages and residence compounds. Regular screening of communities in areas where tsetse flies are endemic and the culling of wild animal reservoirs, as well as personal approaches such as the use of insect repellent and the wearing of long-sleeved shirts and pants, have also helped reduce the number of cases of sleeping sickness.
Historically, epidemics of West African sleeping sickness were controlled in part through the administration of prophylactic doses of pentamidine to village populations. The destruction of wild animals that served as host reservoirs for the parasites was also carried out, particularly in East Africa; the approach helped reduce tsetse fly populations, though neither the flies nor the disease were successfully exterminated.
No vaccine or medicine can prevent African sleeping sickness. But you can avoid being bitten by tsetse flies. Experts recommend the following:
Wear protective clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts and pants. Tsetse flies can bite through material, so clothing should be made of thick fabric.
Wear khaki, olive, or other neutral-colored clothing. Tsetse flies are attracted to bright and dark contrasting colors.
Use bed nets when sleeping.
Look inside vehicles for tsetse flies before getting into them.
Do not ride in the back of jeeps, pickup trucks, or other open vehicles. Tsetse flies are attracted to the dust created by moving vehicles and animals.
Stay away from bushes. During the hottest part of the day, the tsetse fly will rest in bushes. But they will bite if disturbed.
Sleep disease is a deadly disease that affects 60,000 people in Africa every year. Now, a scientist in Scotland says they may have discovered a new treatment method.
Sleeping sickness spreads due to the bite of the tsetse fly. This fly can transmit parasites that infect the human central nervous system. Initially the infection causes fever, headache, itching on the skin and weakness.
Then the parasite enters the brain and causes more serious problems. Patients will feel convulsions and have difficulty thinking, and sleep longer. If the disease is not treated, the victim usually never gets up from sleep, and dies
Paul Wyatt of the Discovery Medicine program for Tropical Diseases at the University of Dundee, Scotland, led the study of this disease. He said research found weaknesses in the parasite. This weakness is an enzyme called M-myristoyl Transferase or NMT which is needed by parasites to live.
The earlier that sleeping sickness is diagnosed and treated, the greater the chances for recovery. Diagnosis is made by microscopic examination of blood and lymph for the presence of trypanosomes and of cerebrospinal fluid for increased levels of white blood cells. Information obtained from these tests is then used to determine the stage of disease and course of treatment.
Suramin is effective for early stages of East African sleeping sickness. Eflornithine is used for the early stages of the West African type, with pentamidine used as an alternative. For later stages involving the central nervous system, the West African form is treated with eflornithine. The highly toxic organoarsenic agent melarsoprol may used as a second-line agent against the East African form. All treatment of T. brucei rhodesiense infection is useless once the fulminating toxemic stage has developed. Researchers have been investigating eflornithine-based combination therapies for West African sleeping sickness. The most effective combination has been eflornithine used in conjunction with nifurtimox, an agent used to treat Chagas disease.
Prevention
In the early 21st century the majority of sleeping sickness cases occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which reported about 1,000 new cases each year. By 2015, with the exception of the DRC, most other African countries had reported fewer than 100 cases annually, and many others had not reported a case in more than a decade. The dramatic decline in sleeping sickness cases was attributed to intensive control efforts, which included the isolation and proper treatment of all infected persons (including large numbers of asymptomatic chronic carriers) and the protection of humans from bites of tsetse flies by using insecticides and by maintaining extensive clearings around villages and residence compounds. Regular screening of communities in areas where tsetse flies are endemic and the culling of wild animal reservoirs, as well as personal approaches such as the use of insect repellent and the wearing of long-sleeved shirts and pants, have also helped reduce the number of cases of sleeping sickness.
Historically, epidemics of West African sleeping sickness were controlled in part through the administration of prophylactic doses of pentamidine to village populations. The destruction of wild animals that served as host reservoirs for the parasites was also carried out, particularly in East Africa; the approach helped reduce tsetse fly populations, though neither the flies nor the disease were successfully exterminated.
No vaccine or medicine can prevent African sleeping sickness. But you can avoid being bitten by tsetse flies. Experts recommend the following:
Wear protective clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts and pants. Tsetse flies can bite through material, so clothing should be made of thick fabric.
Wear khaki, olive, or other neutral-colored clothing. Tsetse flies are attracted to bright and dark contrasting colors.
Use bed nets when sleeping.
Look inside vehicles for tsetse flies before getting into them.
Do not ride in the back of jeeps, pickup trucks, or other open vehicles. Tsetse flies are attracted to the dust created by moving vehicles and animals.
Stay away from bushes. During the hottest part of the day, the tsetse fly will rest in bushes. But they will bite if disturbed.