New treatment raises hopes of sleep disease elimination
Doctor Willy Kuziena works on sleeping sickness with the laboratory team at Masi Manimba Hospital, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (here in June 2018).
© Xavier Vaheed-DNDi
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Is sleeping sickness on the way to being eliminated?
This is the hope aroused by a new treatment developed by the Sanofi laboratory, acoziborole, which has just been presented.
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Sleeping sickness, or human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), is transmitted by the tsetse fly and caused by a parasite which affects the central nervous system at an advanced stage and causes death.
Currently, when detected in time, its symptoms are similar to those of malaria, including fever.
Patients must be hospitalized for ten days, undergo repeated injections and take tablets.
This new treatment, presented in the scientific journal
The Lancet Infectious Diseases
, could be a game-changer.
Developed by the Sanofi laboratory and financed by the Bill Gates Foundation, acoziborole can be administered immediately and on the spot, according to an approach called “screening-treatment” by doctors.
Since sleeping sickness mainly affects communities living in remote and unstable areas, single-dose oral treatment could have a real impact.
Its administration requires only minimal medical training.
“
A revolution
” for patients and medical staff
Dr. Mariame Camara, based at the trypanosomiasis treatment center in Dubréka, Guinea, participated in all phases of acoziborole trials.
In his eyes, it is "
a
revolution
".
“
The patient takes three tablets, and then it's over.
There is no need for hospitalization.
As soon as we suspect the disease, we can give the treatment
,” she says.
Acoziborole is still under registration.
The development study lasted three years, between 2016 and 2019. During the final test phase, 208 patients in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo were treated: among them, 95% of patients in advanced stages of the disease were cured, and 100% of those for whom the disease had been detected at an early stage.
According to Doctor Mariame Camara, “
Sanofi is responsible for distributing these drugs via the World Health Organization: they will make them available free of charge since it is a disease that affects poor populations.
She believes that this new treatment opens the way to
the “elimination
” – and not the total eradication – of sleeping sickness, thanks
to screening campaigns
to treat as many patients as possible.
Interview with Doctor Mariame Camara, from the Dubreka trypano center in Guinea, about acoziborole.
► Also to listen: Sleeping sickness, a neglected tropical disease
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