The natural progression of Gambiense sleeping sickness: what is the evidence?
Gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (HAT, sleeping sickness) is widely assumed to be 100% pathogenic and fatal. However, reports to the contrary exist, and human trypano-tolerance has been postulated. Furthermore, there is uncertainty about the actual duration of both stage 1 and stage 2 infecti...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:33581a81d63042d6967c92956253c39f 2023-05-15T15:04:05+02:00 The natural progression of Gambiense sleeping sickness: what is the evidence? Francesco Checchi João A N Filipe Michael P Barrett Daniel Chandramohan 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000303 https://doaj.org/article/33581a81d63042d6967c92956253c39f EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2602732?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000303 https://doaj.org/article/33581a81d63042d6967c92956253c39f PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 2, Iss 12, p e303 (2008) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2008 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000303 2022-12-31T12:56:38Z Gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (HAT, sleeping sickness) is widely assumed to be 100% pathogenic and fatal. However, reports to the contrary exist, and human trypano-tolerance has been postulated. Furthermore, there is uncertainty about the actual duration of both stage 1 and stage 2 infection, particularly with respect to how long a patient remains infectious. Understanding such basic parameters of HAT infection is essential for optimising control strategies based on case detection. We considered the potential existence and relevance of human trypano-tolerance, and explored the duration of infectiousness, through a review of published evidence on the natural progression of gambiense HAT in the absence of treatment, and biological considerations. Published reports indicate that most gambiense HAT cases are fatal if untreated. Self-resolving and asymptomatic chronic infections probably constitute a minority if they do indeed exist. Chronic carriage, however, deserves further study, as it could seed renewed epidemics after control programmes cease. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 2 12 e303 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
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English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Francesco Checchi João A N Filipe Michael P Barrett Daniel Chandramohan The natural progression of Gambiense sleeping sickness: what is the evidence? |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (HAT, sleeping sickness) is widely assumed to be 100% pathogenic and fatal. However, reports to the contrary exist, and human trypano-tolerance has been postulated. Furthermore, there is uncertainty about the actual duration of both stage 1 and stage 2 infection, particularly with respect to how long a patient remains infectious. Understanding such basic parameters of HAT infection is essential for optimising control strategies based on case detection. We considered the potential existence and relevance of human trypano-tolerance, and explored the duration of infectiousness, through a review of published evidence on the natural progression of gambiense HAT in the absence of treatment, and biological considerations. Published reports indicate that most gambiense HAT cases are fatal if untreated. Self-resolving and asymptomatic chronic infections probably constitute a minority if they do indeed exist. Chronic carriage, however, deserves further study, as it could seed renewed epidemics after control programmes cease. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Francesco Checchi João A N Filipe Michael P Barrett Daniel Chandramohan |
author_facet |
Francesco Checchi João A N Filipe Michael P Barrett Daniel Chandramohan |
author_sort |
Francesco Checchi |
title |
The natural progression of Gambiense sleeping sickness: what is the evidence? |
title_short |
The natural progression of Gambiense sleeping sickness: what is the evidence? |
title_full |
The natural progression of Gambiense sleeping sickness: what is the evidence? |
title_fullStr |
The natural progression of Gambiense sleeping sickness: what is the evidence? |
title_full_unstemmed |
The natural progression of Gambiense sleeping sickness: what is the evidence? |
title_sort |
natural progression of gambiense sleeping sickness: what is the evidence? |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000303 https://doaj.org/article/33581a81d63042d6967c92956253c39f |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 2, Iss 12, p e303 (2008) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2602732?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000303 https://doaj.org/article/33581a81d63042d6967c92956253c39f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000303 |
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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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2 |
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12 |
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e303 |
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