According to one news from Reuters picked up by Challenges, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has issued a favorable opinion for fexinidazole, the first oral treatment effective against both phases of sleeping sickness. It was the Sanofi laboratory that made the announcement on Friday November 16.
Sleeping sickness: geography and symptoms
What is sleeping sickness? Its scientific name is human African trypanosomiasis (HAT). It is often fatal if left untreated. It is found in 36 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and is transmitted by the bite of a tsetse fly, mainly in rural areas. About 65 million people are considered at risk in this area of the world.
What are its symptoms? It manifests itself in two phases. During the first, the patient suffers from bouts of fever, intense headaches, joint pain and itching. In the second phase, the parasite present in the body crosses the blood-brain barrier and enters the central nervous system. The symptoms then change, the patient feels sensory disturbances, shows poor coordination, a confusional state. In addition to these effects, the patient suffers from intense sleep disturbances, hence the name of the disease.
Difficult and ineffective treatments so far
The drugs used to fight the disease have so far been different for the two phases. Adverse effects were numerous and some treatments for the second phase were difficult to administer, even potentially fatal.
But the new drug, fexinidazole, an anti-protozoan whose clinical trials have been conducted by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) since 2009, is more effective and much easier to administer. One oral intake per day is sufficient. As a bonus, it works against both phases of the disease.
Following this validation, the distribution of the drug should begin in 2019 in countries where sleeping sickness is constantly rife.
Read also:
Sleep disorders: melatonin would expose you to too many side effects
Sleep: too short nights can lead to dehydration
