African trypanosomiasis risk factors
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] ; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Aditya Ganti M.B.B.S. [2]
Overview
Risk factors for African trypanosomiasis include residence in Central or South America, living in old houses with either mud and sticks wall constructions or straw roofs, ingestion of contaminated water, or receiving blood transfusions/organ donation from individuals in regions with high endemicity. Risk of infection increases with the number of times a person is bitten by the tsetse fly. Neonatal risk is highest among those who breastfeed from bleeding / cracked nipples of infected mothers and those who are delivered from seropositive mothers with active disease.
Risk Factors
East African Trypanosomiasis
East African trypanosomiasis is usually found in woodland and savannah areas away from human habitation. Tourists, hunters, game wardens, and other persons working or visiting game parks in East and Central Africa are at greatest risk for illness.
West African Trypanosomiasis
Tsetse flies can be found in Western and Central African forests, in areas of thick shrubbery and trees by rivers and waterholes. Risk of infection increases with the number of times a person is bitten by the tsetse fly. Therefore, tourists are not at great risk for contracting West African trypanosomiasis unless they are traveling and spending long periods of time in rural areas of Western and Central Africa.[1]
In addition to the bite of the tsetse fly, the disease is contractible in the following ways:
- Mother to child infection: the trypanosome can cross the placenta and infect the fetus, causing perinatal death.
- Laboratories: accidental infections, for example, through the handling of blood of an infected person and organ transplantation, although this is uncommon.
- Blood transfusion