Sleeping sickness, or human African
trypanosomiasis (HAT), is a neglected tropical disease, which can be fatal if
left untreated.
A new, single-dose, oral treatment for
sleeping sickness is as effective as current treatments and could be a key
factor in eliminating disease transmission by 2030, suggests a new study
published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The study finds that a single
oral dose of the drug acoziborole is 95% effective 18 months after treatment in
treating sleeping sickness in adults and adolescents, regardless of disease
stage.
During the study, they recruited patients
from 10 hospitals. A single 960 mg oral dose of acoziborole was administered to
208 patients; 167 diagnosed with late-stage human African trypanosomiasis. The
patients were followed up for 18 months to see if treatment was successful.
The researchers found that, 18 months after
treatment, 95% of patients with late-stage Gambiense human African
trypanosomiasis treated with acoziborole were cured. In the early- and
intermediate-stage patients, 100% were successfully treated. An analysis of the
results found that they were similar to the success rate for the previous human
African trypanosomiasis treatment.
Acoziborole, unlike current treatments for
sleeping sickness, does not require multiple days of treatment, hospitalisation
or highly skilled health personnel. The authors argue that acoziborole could be
a breakthrough in efforts to reach the WHO goal of the elimination of
transmission of sleeping sickness by 2030.
The researchers added that “The World
Health Organisation have set a goal of elimination of Gambiense human African
trypanosomiasis by 2030 by interrupting the disease’s transmission. Although
cases are decreasing across Africa, this will be a challenge and we believe the
use of acoziborole could be a crucial future tool in efforts to reach our
common goal of elimination.
Reference:
THE LANCET INFECTIOUS DISEASES:
New single-dose treatment for sleeping sickness could hel eliminate
transmission of the disease by 2030