Overview
The Trypanosoma genus consists of the protozoa Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas’ disease, and Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma rhodesiense which can cause African trypanosomiasis (also known as sleeping sickness).
Chagas’ disease
Chagas’ Disease is mostly asymptomatic in the acute phase but is associated with the involvement of the heart, leading to myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy (Chagas cardiomyopathy), and the gastrointestinal tract, causing dysphagia and constipation which can develop years later. This occurs because muscles tend to be the most infected tissue.
It is a zoonosis and is transmitted by triatome or ‘kissing bugs’ found in wild and domestic animals in Central and South America.
African trypanosomiasis
African trypanosomiasis is endemic in Central Africa and is spread by the tsetse fly. It is associated with a chancre at the infection site and fever. It may involve the central nervous system and cause ‘sleeping sickness’, characterised by somnolence, mood changes, and meningoencephalitis.
