Quantifying the burden of rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Urambo district, Tanzania

Matemba, L.E., Fèvre, E.M., Kibona, S.N., Picozzi, K., Cleaveland, S. , Shaw, A.P., Welburn, S.C. and Ndung'u, J.M. (2010) Quantifying the burden of rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Urambo district, Tanzania. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 4(11), e868. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000868)

Abstract

Sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis - HAT) is a disease transmitted by tsetse flies and is always fatal if left untreated. The disease occurs in foci affecting poor communities with limited access to health service provision and as such the disease is often left undiagnosed, mistaken for more common afflictions. Even if diagnosed, sleeping sickness is costly to treat, both for health services and patients and their families in terms of costs of diagnosis, transport, hospital care, and the prolonged period of convalescence. Here we estimate the health burden of the acute form T. b. rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Urambo District, Tanzania in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), the yardstick commonly used by policy makers to prioritize disease management practices, representing a year of healthy life lost to disease. In this single district, the burden of the disease over one year was estimated at 979 DALYs and the estimated monetary costs to health services for the 143 treated patients at US$ 11,841 and to the patients themselves at US$ 3,673 for direct medical costs and US$ 9,781 for indirect non-medical costs. Sleeping sickness thus places a considerable burden on the affected rural communities and health services.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cleaveland, Professor Sarah
• Authors: Matemba, L.E., Fèvre, E.M., Kibona, S.N., Picozzi, K., Cleaveland, S., Shaw, A.P., Welburn, S.C., and Ndung'u, J.M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1935-2727
• ISSN (Online): 1935-2735
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2010 The Authors
• First Published: First published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 4(11):e868
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher