Thanks to efforts by MSF, the immediate future for those with sleeping sickness looks considerably brighter than the recent past, but the long-term prognosis isn't clear. The story of the reemergence of this disorder vividly captures the clash between the medical priorities of the developed and developing worlds.
The popular name of African trypanosomiasis—sleeping sickness—underestimates the disease's severity. Tsetse flies transmit two subspecies of the pathogen Trypanosoma brucei. The rhodesiense variant, found in southern and eastern Africa, causes acute symptoms, whereas the gambiense variant, common in central and western Africa, is delayed and chronic. Either way, the sickness begins with fever, headache, joint pain, itching, and lethargy, then, as the parasites cross the blood-brain barrier, irritability, confusion, slurred speech, poor coordination, and sensory disturbances ensue. Profound fatigue during the day gives way to extreme agitation at night. Untreated, coma and death invariably follow.
Tsetse flies live in vegetation near lakes ...
