Trypanosomiasis, African (T b rhodesiense)

Key Features

Essentials of Diagnosis

• Exposure to tsetse flies

• Hemolymphatic disease: Irregular fever, headache, joint pain, rash, edema, lymphadenopathy

• Meningoencephalitic disease: Somnolence, severe headache, progressing to coma

• Trypanosomes in blood or lymph node aspirates; positive serologic tests

• Trypanosomes and increased white cells and protein in cerebrospinal fluid

General Considerations

• African trypanosomiasis is caused by the hemoflagellates Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense

• The organisms are transmitted by bites of tsetse flies (genus Glossina), which inhabit shaded areas along streams and rivers

• Trypanosomes ingested in a blood meal undergo a developmental period of 18–35 days in the fly

• When the fly feeds again on a new mammalian host, the infective stage is injected

• T b rhodesiense causes East African trypanosomiasis, and is transmitted in the savannas of east and southeast Africa

• T b rhodesiense infection is primarily a zoonosis of game animals and cattle; humans are infected sporadically

Demographics

• Total incidence has been estimated at < 5000 cases per year, mostly due to T b gambiense, with the largest number in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Infections are rare among travelers, including visitors to game parks

Clinical Findings

• Chancres at the bite site; lesion is painful and measures 3–10 cm

• Symptom onset usually occurs within a few days of the insect bite

• The hemolymphatic stage includes intermittent fever and rash, but lymphadenopathy is less common than with West African disease

• Myocarditis can cause tachycardia and death due to arrhythmias or heart failure

Diagnosis

• Microscopic examination of fluid expressed from a chancre or lymph node may show motile trypanosomes or, in fixed specimens, parasites stained with Giemsa

• During the hemolymphatic stage, detection of parasites in Giemsa-stained blood smears is common

• Serial specimens should be examined, since parasitemias vary greatly over time

• Meningoencephalitic (or second stage) disease is defined by the World Health Organization as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) showing at least five mononuclear cells per microliter, elevated protein, or presence of trypanosomes

• Concentration techniques can aid identification of parasites in blood or CSF

• Serologic tests are also available

• Field-applicable immunochromatographic lateral flow rapid diagnostic tests that cost less than CATT and are simpler to perform are available

• Combining tests improves sensitivity and specificity

• Molecular diagnostic tests, including PCR and field-friendly loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) are available, but these are not yet standardized or routinely available

Treatment

• Pentamidine and eflornithine are not reliably effective

• Suramin

  • Used to treat early disease

  • Dosing regimens vary: 100–200 mg test dose, then 20 mg/kg (maximum 1 g) intravenously on days 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 or weekly for five doses

  • Toxicities include vomiting and, rarely, seizures and shock ...