African Trypanosomiasis : An Infectious Disease

Zimmer emphasizes his prologue in two different stories. The first story is about a twelve-year-old boy named Justin who lives in Tambura Sudan infected with a single cell parasite called a trypanosome also known as the sleeping disease. Zimmer explains that the parasite is transmitted by two different hosts the tsetse fly and humans. The infection cycle starts with the tsetse fly drinking human’s blood pouring in Trypanosomes. The trypanosomes then steal oxygen and glucose invading all the organs including the brain. Sleeping sickness gets its named from the way trypanosomes disorder people brains by damaging the biological clock and turning day to night. Justin had to take some injections of melarsoprol which contains twenty percent of arsenic and steroids for swelling. This brutal procedure was followed because Justin had parasites in his brain.

The incidence is highest in late summer and early autumn, until the first hard frost does away with the mosquito population for that year. Birds and other animals (such as horses) are the usual reservoir for the infection, and they are involved in its dissemination. Initial viral symptoms may give way to high fever and neck stiffness (meningeal signs). However, as with most forms of encephalitis, it is the confusion and depressed levels of consciousness (stupor) that mark the infection as being of the brain (encephalitis) and not just the meninges. West Nile Virus is an acute central nervous disease (McCance & Huether, 2014).

Though these facts give a positive outlook, with progress comes many setbacks. The informative view of Guinea Worm Disease from this documentary gives a good example of global health. With the concern of health worldwide, some of the most critical factors in global health are the following: the determinants of health, measurement of health

It is caused by a parasite that infects certain mosquitos that feed on humans. People infected with malaria usually suffer from high fevers, shaking chills, achy muscles, headaches, tiredness, and flu-like illness. It may also cause jaundice and anemia. The malaria parasite is found in the red blood cells of a person which means it can be transmitted through blood transfusions, organ transplants, or the shared use of needles syringes contaminated with blood. Malaria is not contagious; it cannot be transmitted from one person to another. Some parasites can remain dormant in the infected person’s body for up to four years after they are bitten. When the parasite comes out of hibernation and begins to invade the red blood cells, the person will become sick.

Woman and men had swelling in the groin or under armpit, it was the size of an egg. This infected area would have pus or blood is oozing out. Some of the other effects are vomiting, diarrhea, aches in the body, or having a fever. After the symptoms change black or purple spots are found on the body. Sooner or later the person with the disease will die.

The first stage involves the hallmark of the disease, having a bullseye like rash known as erythema migrans at the site of the bite, and also flu like symptoms such as fatigue, fever, and headache. Not all individuals experience the erythema migrans so it is not a required finding for the diagnosis of the disease. If left untreated, the disease will advance to the second stage. The second stage is known as the early disseminated stage, and is when the infection has progressed to other areas of the body. It can involve additional erythema migrans on different parts of the body, Bell’s palsy, inflammation of the spinal cord, swelling the joints, and heart palpitations. Like other spirochete infections, such as syphilis, the disease can have various asymptomatic periods (Bhate, 2011). The third stage, can result in arthritic bouts and neurological issues such as numbness in different parts of the body and/or short term memory

Encephalitis literally means an inflammation of the brain, but it usually refers to brain inflammation caused by a virus. It may also be called “acute viral encephalitis or aseptic encephalitis';. Encephalitis is an infectious disease of the Central Nervous System characterized by pathologic changes in both the gray and white matter of the spinal cord and brain. It may be due to specific disease entity such as rabies or an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus), or it may occur as a sequela of influenza, measles, German measles, chicken pox, herpes virus infection, small pox, vaccinia, or other diseases. The specific viruses involved may vary. Exposure can also occur through insect bites, food or drink, or skin

African Trypanosomiasis- headaches, muscle and joint pain, fevers, malaise, itching of the skin, CNS involvement, personality changes, swollen lymph nodes

disease and Alzheimer’s. Severe infection that has spread to the brain, epilepsy, stroke, and the late

Our plan is to run blood tests on individuals who exhibit symptoms of FSGS to confirm if they express the APOL1 gene. The individuals whose blood we use, since we have to take both likelihood of affliction and ancestry into consideration, will be from people who are of West African descent. In order to confirm if the individual expresses the APOL1 gene, we will first take the individual’s blood sample, large enough to have a detectable amount of HDL cholesterol (potentially formed into an APOL1-HDL complex). We will then acquire a sample of the parasite. The parasite will be acquired by gathering the various species of Tsetse flies which serve as vectors for trypanosomes in West Africa. We can then cultivate a live axenic sample of

Stage 2 or the disseminated infection, is when neurological symptoms (15% of cases) such as stiff neck, mild headache, and difficulty with mentation will appear. Bell’s Palsy may also occur at this point. Approximately half of undiagnosed cases will develop Lyme arthritis and changing musculoskeletal pain.1 Swelling and pain in large joints as well as shooting pains that wake individuals at night may occur. There may be additional EM rashes over various parts of the body as well as heart palpitations and dizziness due to changes in heartbeat, which is known as Lyme carditis.2 This will begin days to weeks after the spirochete has spread.1 These symptoms may resolve on their own over weeks to months, but if Lyme is left untreated, it can result in long term symptoms and conditions or Stage 3.2

The symptoms may include fever, the chills, weakness throughout the body, abdominal pain and shock also there can be bleeding and tissue decay most commonly towards the finger and toes as they may appear black

Within the first few days of receiving the disease, the host would experience flu-like symptoms. It all started with an unbearable headache. This headache would last until you would die. Then you would develop chills and fever that would leave you feeling sore and very weak. Victims also said they experienced back pain and light was too bright for them to stand up. After experiencing these symptoms, the effects would kick in and they were traumatizing. The host would start to develop hard, agonizing lumps on their neck, arms, and inner thighs. The lumps would often expand to the size of an orange. Those lumps then turned black, split open, and then oozed blood and pus. The host would then bleed internally causing blood to be in their urine, stool, and under the skin. The blood puddling under the skin would appear all over the body. The host would have an excruciating

Weight loss happens as the illness progresses. Continuous confusion, behavior changes, daytime sleepiness with nighttime sleep troubles, and other neurologic difficulties happen after the infection has infected the central nervous system. These signs come to be worse as the disease progresses. If left untreated, death will ultimately happen after some years of infection.

The signs and symptoms of encephalitis are really dependent on how severe the disease has become. Mild symptoms are very similar to the flu. If the person even has symptoms at all. Some people never have any signs of encephalitis. Symptoms could include headache, nausea, vomiting, fever, joint pain, and lethargy. The severe infections symptoms could cause confusion, hallucinations, personality changes, seizures, loss of sensation, LOC, rash, and tremors. If the any adult or child is experiencing these symptoms they should seek medical attention immediately. (Mayo Clinic, 2011)