Classification: ICD-9 086.3-086.4; ICD-10 B56.0, B56.1
Syndromes and synonyms: Sleeping sickness, Gambian trypanosomiasis, Rhodesian trypanosomiasis, West African sleeping sickness, East African sleeping sickness.
Agent: Extracellular, unicellular hemoflagellate Trypanosoma brucei, with two subspecies: T. b. gambiense in West and Central Africa (tropical forest), T. b. rhodesiense in East and Southern Africa (savannah).
Reservoir: Humans for T. b. gambiense; livestock and wildlife for T. b. rhodesiense.
Vector: Tsetse fly (Glossina). The main human vectors belong to the palpalis (riverine flies) and morsitans (forest and savannah flies) complex. The palpalis complex (G. fuscipes, G. palpalis, G. tachinoides) mainly transmit T. b. gambiense and the morsitans complex (G. morsitans, G. pallidipes, G. swynnertoni) mainly transmit T. b. rhodesiense. G. fuscipes and G. tachinoides can transmit both subspecies.
Transmission: By tsetse fly bite (day biters); blood transfusion, and congenital.
Cycle: The parasite is ingested by a tsetse fly during feeding on an infected host, and enters the salivary glands after 12–30 days, and can be transmitted to new susceptible hosts during the life of the fly (3 months). There is no vertical transmission in the fly.
Incubation period
Related posts:
Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel
Full access? Get Clinical Tree
