Time to put out the lights on sleeping sickness?
Sleeping sickness (or Human African Trypanosomiasis, HAT) is a potentially fatal parasitic disease that affects a large proportion of sub-Saharan Africa. It was epidemic in the early 20th century before being nearly eradicated through a variety of control programmes. Despite this, there was a resurgence in the 1980s and 90s following relaxation of these programmes. Recent advances are reversing this trend once more. However, more research is required to improve diagnosis and treatment, and to better understand the epidemiology of HAT if complete eradication is to be achieved in the future.
Nimmo
Camus
C
University College London Medical School, Gower Street, London WC1E6BT, UK. camus.nimmo@gmail.com
D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004199:Disease Vectors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014353:Trypanosomiasis, African / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*