Pathogen of sleeping sickness. Symptoms and treatment of sleeping sickness

People who often travel, and especially many are on the African continent, it is important to know about a disease like sleeping sickness. The causative agent of a sleeping sickness - trypanosome - can get into the human body after a tsetse fly bite. Recently, there has been a growing tendency to reduce the number of cases affected by African trypanosomiasis. This is due to many factors, the main of which is the improvement of living standards in these countries.

Causative agent of sleeping sickness

The main vector of the disease is the tsetse fly. It is worth noting that there are several varieties of the disease. The first type affects animals (both wild and domestic). The Gambian species is typical for areas with high humidity (for example, western Africa). Rhodesian form is most often found in the eastern part, where the climate is drier.

The causative agent of sleeping sickness is eukaryotes, its dimensions do not exceed 20 microns in length. The parasite has an oblong spindle-shaped shape. During the bite of a fly, a huge amount of trypanosomes - about 400 thousand. It should be noted that enough for infection of a person and about 400 parasites. A fly can be a bearer throughout his life.

How does infection occur?

When a fly enters the body, the causative agent of sleeping sickness begins to multiply intensively. After a few days, the tripomastigot forms are already present in the salivary glands. There they are modified into a special form - epimastigoty. They repeatedly divide. Invasive stage (tripomastigoty) is formed by complex morphological changes. A few days after the human bite, blood trypomastigths enter the bloodstream, the lymphatic fluid, and then spread throughout the body. With further development of the disease, parasites enter the central nervous system. In the brain, the microorganism affects both gray and white matter, causes inflammatory processes, leads to degenerative changes. In an ill person, antibodies to these parasites are detected (usually in the local population). In this case, the disease becomes chronic. At visitors tourists sleepy illness proceeds, as a rule, it is sharp enough.

Symptomatic of the disease

When a fly is bitten, a chancre is formed on the site of the lesion. It's a painful knot that itches. It is worth noting that the causative agent of sleeping sickness only in a small amount immediately enters the bloodstream. The bulk remains at the site of the bite, where it multiplies extensively. Chancre disappears in a couple of days, sometimes in its place remains a scar. In the first period, the sleeping sickness of a person is characterized by such symptoms: headaches, unpleasant sensations in the joints. Patients also notice enlarged lymph nodes. There may be fever, fever. Hemolymphatic stage causes loss of appetite, weakness, disturbance of heart rhythm. There are also problems in the work of internal organs. In the case of the Gabi type, the disease can for a long time be unidentified.

The course of the Rhodesian type of sleeping sickness

The Rhodesian form of the disease is more complex and more severe. All symptoms are more pronounced. It is worth noting that the causative agent of this type of sleeping sickness affects the lymph nodes to a lesser degree. A few weeks (up to 6) after infection, the central nervous system is affected. This leads to a clouding of consciousness, coordination of movements is disturbed, sleep disorders can also be observed: daily drowsiness rises. Very often, the organs of the cardiovascular system are affected. It is also worth noting that, almost immediately after infection with the Rhodesian form of sleeping sickness, the organism is depleted. Late stages are characterized by speech impairment, paralysis, possibly a coma. In the most severe cases, death may occur (most often from exhaustion, heart problems, concomitant infections).

How is the disease diagnosed? Treatment

In view of the fact that the sleeping sickness of the cause has such as the penetration of parasites into the bloodstream, a patient's blood test is necessary for diagnosis. The presence of living trypanosomes makes it possible to reliably diagnose. It may also be necessary to study the cerebrospinal fluid. This is necessary to determine the stage of sleeping sickness, competent selection of medicines. It is very important to start treatment as early as possible. At the initial stages, arsenic compounds, suramin, pentamidine are used. In the Gambian form, eflornithine is effective. Treatment of sleeping sickness with such drugs occurs under the strict supervision of specialists, as they are all quite toxic, and can also cause a number of serious consequences.

About how effective the therapy is, judge from the blood tests (and cerebrospinal fluid), which must be carried out throughout the whole year. The reason is that the parasite can remain viable for a long time, and the disease can relapse even several months after intensive treatment.

How to protect yourself from this disease

First of all, it is not necessary without extreme necessity to visit the area, where a causative agent of sleeping sickness is found in abundant amounts. If this can not be avoided, then one should remember about insect repellent. There are special repellents that scare away flies, etc. Clothes should be chosen with long sleeves, light tones. Also during mass outbreaks of sleeping sickness, it is recommended to administer the drug pentamidine. In African countries, shrubs are cut down near settlements, with the help of chemical preparations the Tsetse fly is exterminated. With timely treatment begun, the recovery of patients reaches 100%. If therapy is started rather late, or the sleeping sickness is caused by the Rhodesian type of parasites, then the predictions in this case are not so consoling. It is worth remembering that sleeping sickness is a fatal diagnosis in the absence of any treatment.