What're the symptoms of sleeping sickness?
Symptoms of sleeping sickness begin with fever, headaches, and joint pains. If untreated, the disease slowly overcomes the defences of the infected person, and symptoms spread to anaemia, endocrine problems, and cardiovascular and kidney disorders. The disease then enters a neurological phase when the parasite passes through the blood-brain barrier. The symptoms of the second phase is what gives the disease its name: besides confusion and reduced
coordination, the sleep cycle is disturbed with bouts of lethargy punctuated with manic periods progressing to daytime somnolence and nighttime insomnia. Without treatment, the disease is fatal, with progressive mental deterioration leading to coma and death. Damage caused in the neurological phase can be irreversible.
Stage I illness: Two to three weeks later, Stage I disease develops as a result of the protozoa being carried through the blood and lymph circulation of the host. This systemic (meaning that symptoms affect the whole body) phase of the illness is characterized by a fever which rises quite high, then falls to normal, then respikes (rises rapidly). A rash with intense itching may be present, and headache and mental confusion may occur. The Gambian form, in particular, includes extreme swelling of lymph tissue, with enlargement of both the spleen and liver, and greatly swollen lymph nodes. "Winterbottom's sign" is classic of Gambian sleeping sickness, and consists of a visibly swollen area of lymph nodes located behind the ear and just above the base of the neck. During this stage, the heart may be affected by a severe inflammatory reaction, particularly when the infection is caused by the Rhodesian variety of trypanosomiasis.
Many of the symptoms of sleeping sickness are actually the result of attempts by the patient's immune system to get rid of the invading organism. The heightened activity of the cells of the immune system result in damage to the patient's own organs, anemia, and leaky blood vessels. These leaks in the blood vessels end up helping to further spread the protozoa throughout the afflicted person's body.
One reason for the intense reaction of the immune system to the presence of the trypanosomes is also the reason why the trypanosomes survive so well despite the efforts of the immune system to eradicate them. The protozoa causing sleeping sickness are able to rapidly change specific markers (unique proteins) on their outer coats. These kinds of markers usually serve to stimulate the host's immune system to produce immune cells which will specifically target the marker, allowing quick destruction of those cells bearing the markers. Trypanosomes, however, are able to express new markers at such a high rate of change that the host's immune system is constantly trying to catch up.
Stage II illness: Stage II sleeping sickness involves the nervous system. Gambian sleeping sickness, in particular, has a clearly delineated phase in which the predominant symptoms involve the brain. The patient's speech becomes slurred, mental processes slow, and the patient sits and stares for long periods of time, or sleeps. Other symptoms resemble Parkinson's disease, including imbalance when walking, slow and shuffling gait, trembling of the limbs, involuntary movements, muscle tightness, and increasing mental confusion. Untreated, these symptoms eventually lead to coma and then to death. |
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