The Burden of Human African Trypanosomiasis

Abstract

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT, or sleeping sickness) is a protozoan parasitic infection caused by Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense or Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. These are neglected tropical diseases, and T.b. rhodesiense HAT is a zoonosis. We review current knowledge on the burden of HAT in sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on the disability-adjusted life year (DALY), data sources, and methodological issues relating to the use of this metric for assessing the burden of this disease. We highlight areas where data are lacking to properly quantify the impact of these diseases, mainly relating to quantifying under-reporting and disability associated with infection, and challenge the HAT research community to tackle the neglect in data gathering to enable better evidence-based assessments of burden using DALYs or other appropriate measures.

Inhibition of Isoleucyl-tRNA Synthetase as a Potential Treatment for Human African Trypanosomiasis

“…Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), 2 also known as African sleeping sickness, is caused by brucei-group trypanosomes and is endemic in 36 sub-Saharan countries (1,2). Two subspecies with different geographic distributions and transmission dynamics cause somewhat different human diseases.…”

“…Two subspecies with different geographic distributions and transmission dynamics cause somewhat different human diseases. Trypanosoma brucei gambiense occurs in West Africa and causes a chronic disease, whereas Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense occurs in East Africa and produces a more acute disease (1,2). During acute infection (stage 1), parasites proliferate in the host bloodstream and lymphatics and undergo antigenic variation, thereby evading elimination by the immune system (1,2).…”

“…Trypanosoma brucei gambiense occurs in West Africa and causes a chronic disease, whereas Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense occurs in East Africa and produces a more acute disease (1,2). During acute infection (stage 1), parasites proliferate in the host bloodstream and lymphatics and undergo antigenic variation, thereby evading elimination by the immune system (1,2). In chronic infections (stage 2), parasites are present in the central nervous system, resulting in multiple clinical sequellae and death if not treated (1)(2)(3).…”

“…During acute infection (stage 1), parasites proliferate in the host bloodstream and lymphatics and undergo antigenic variation, thereby evading elimination by the immune system (1,2). In chronic infections (stage 2), parasites are present in the central nervous system, resulting in multiple clinical sequellae and death if not treated (1)(2)(3). Current drug treatments for stage 1 HAT include pentamidine and suramin (for T. brucei gambiense and T. brucei rhodesiense, respectively), whereas those for stage 2 HAT include melarsoprol and eflornithine (for T. brucei rhodesiense and T. brucei gambiense, respectively).…”

Biological Roles of Peptidases in Trypanosomatids~!2009-11-26~!2010-02-15~!2010-03-18~!

“…Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and T. b. gambiense subspecies cause the fatal human disease known as African sleeping sickness and it continues to pose a major threat to 60 million people in 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa [42]. The disease is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Trypanosoma and comes in two types: East African human trypanosomiasis caused by T. b. rhodesiense and the West African form caused by T. b. gambiense.…”