About the African sleeping sickness

Abstract

African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness, is considered to be a neglected tropical disease. It is transmitted by the tsetse fly and occurs in 36 sub Saharan African countries.
By the beginning of 1960s the epidemic was controlled by means of the new medication introduced, the mobile clinics teams and the regular screening of the population known to be at risk. Following that success the epidemiological attention declined and the disease reappeared again, reaching today epidemical proportions in some African countries.
This paper wraps up the aetiology, transmission, symptomatology, immunopathology and prognosis of the disease, while also delivering its short historical background. The poor diagnostic possibilities and the unreliable statistical data at our disposal are complemented by the personal, field experience of the author, gained in certain Cameroonian villages where she worked for 8 months as a medical doctor.