2023-11-13 18:53:04
Sleeping sickness parasite. Scanning electron micrograph of a “Trypanosoma brucei gambiense” parasite (in blue) and white blood cells (in red) in the liver of a mouse. FREE UNIVERSITY OF BRUSSELS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
In November 2022, a publication in the newspaper The Lancet revealed the effectiveness of a new drug against sleeping sickness and raised hopes of its elimination. A true saga since this African pathology caused by a parasite resurfaced in the 1980s, the quest for this Grail has brought together a unique mix of actors, doctors, pharmaceutical laboratories, activists and international institutions working alongside African governments. It was necessary to skillfully take advantage of research neglected by the pharmaceutical industry in the countries of the North to gradually remove the obstacles to access to the treatments necessary to eliminate the disease, targeted by the World Health Organization (WHO). ) by 2030.
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Sleeping sickness, or human African trypanosomiasis, caused in its most common form (97% of cases) by the parasite Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, is transmitted by a biting fly, the tsetse fly, which is found near water points. Fatal in the absence of treatment, this form is rife in rural areas, where it can decimate villages. It is present in twenty-four countries in Central and West Africa.
A first phase of the disease, which can last several years, corresponds to the multiplication of the parasite in the subcutaneous tissues, blood and lymph. Its symptoms – headaches or intermittent fevers – are not very specific. A second phase results from the parasite crossing the blood-brain barrier to enter the central nervous system, with characteristic symptoms, including disturbances in the sleep cycle, insane laughter or convulsions.
“The Resurrection Molecule”
According to the results of the phase II clinical trial published in The Lancetthe antiparasitic acoziborole administered in a single oral dose gave very promising results at both stages of this condition associated by the populations concerned with the “evil eye” due to stigmatizing neurological symptoms. “It’s a single-dose treatment. Three tablets, and it’s done »summarizes Wilfried Mutombo, doctor at the Congolese office of Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDI), the Geneva-based non-governmental organization which led this research. “It’s a tool that will be important in the evolution of the fight against sleeping sickness”he insists.
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