The following symptoms and complaints may indicate sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis):
The following stages of the disease can be distinguished:
- Primary lesion
- Hemolymphatic stage (stage 1)
- Meningoencephalitic stage (stage 2)
Initial (after one to two weeks)
- Primary lesion (trypanosome chancre) at the site where the pathogen entered (sting, wound, etc.) – heals spontaneously after a few weeks.
Hemolymphatic stage (in the West African form after weeks/months; in the East African form after a few days).
- Intermittent fever
- Exanthema (rash) – truncal, itchy, annular (ring-shaped).
- Lymphadenopathy (lymph node enlargement), especially the neck lymph nodes.
- Hepatosplenomegaly (liver and spleen enlargement).
- Headache
- Joint pain
- Swelling of the face
- Weight loss
- Anemia (anemia)
- Thrombocytopenia – reduction of platelets in the blood.
- Coagulation disorders, unspecified
Meningoencephalitic stage (after months/years in the West African form; much faster in the East African form).
- Concentration disorders
- Personality disorders
- Weight loss – due to the inability to eat by oneself.
- Parkinson’s-like symptomatology
