Treatment and follow-up using microscopy and polymerase chain reaction in East African sleeping sickness: a case report

We report a case of East African trypanosomiasis in a 26-year-old traveler returning from Tanzania, including a series of pictures of the progression of the inoculation chancre. Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense-specific DNA was detected in the blood until 8 days after treatment. We hypothesize that the previously observed suramin toxicity may be an immunological response to parasite debris, produced as they are killed by the treatment.