Diagnosis of Sleeping Sickness

Diagnosis

It is difficult to diagnose sleeping sickness in the first stage of infection. Early signs and symptoms are not unique to sleeping sickness. Finding the parasite in a sample of your body fluid or tissue is important for diagnosis but may be challenging. Tests are often not sensitive enough to find the parasite in the first stage of infection unless there are a lot of parasites present.

There are several tests that can diagnose sleeping sickness. Talk with your healthcare provider immediately if you think you have sleeping sickness.

Testing

To diagnose you with either kind of sleeping sickness, your provider must find the parasite in a sample of your body fluid or tissue.

West African sleeping sickness

It can be difficult to detect the parasite that causes West African sleeping sickness with routine testing of your blood. Therefore, your provider will often look for the parasite in a sample from your lymph node under a microscope. The parasite may also be found in your spinal fluid during the second stage of the disease.

East African sleeping sickness

If you have symptoms of East African sleeping sickness, your healthcare provider can usually find the parasite by looking at a sample of your blood under a microscope. The parasite may also be found in your spinal fluid during the second stage of the disease.