Paediatric Sleeping Sickness in Kenya : A Case Report

ABSTRACT

Sleeping sickness is often considered a disease of adults rather than children due to their reduced exposure to the vector. Presumptive diagnosis of sleeping sickness was however difficult since the clinical signs observed were non-specific. This makes clinical diagnosis difficult. Often the disease in children masquerades as a pulmonary infection that is undetectable on x-ray or auscultation. A male child aged two years and eight months was diagnosed with the disease in western Kenya. The patient presented with severe respiratory distress; hepatosplenomegay and neurological symptoms. The disease transmission was associated with the socio-cultural habit of placing children under bushes whilst farming. The implications of delayed diagnosis on response to treatment are discussed