What Is Sleeping Sickness?

Sleeping sickness is not what you have when you can't get up for work on a cold, dark winters morning. It is very much more serious and occurs in the tropics. It is a disease carried by parasites from the species Trypanosoma. Infection with this parasite is often fatal and reaches epidemic proportions in parts of Africa.

In the early twentieth century, what was then Uganda, experienced a devastating wave of infection that killed 200 000 people, approximately two thirds of the population of the country at the time.

The parasites are spread by the tsetse fly when it feeds on human blood. When the parasite passes into the blood of a human, it spreads through the body, penetrating all tissues, including the brain. Many symptoms follow, including fever, headaches and chills as the parasite continues to divide. After a few weeks, it fully penetrates the nervous system, causing extreme drowsiness and uncontrollable sleeping. Eventually, the person falls into a coma and death follows if the infection cannot be treated.