infections
African Sleeping Sickness
Diagnosis of African Sleeping Sickness
Examination of a sample of blood or fluid from a lymph node Spinal tap and analysis of cerebrospinal fluid Doctors diagnose African sleeping sickness by examining a sample of blood or fluid from a lymph node and identifying the protozoa in it. Sometimes doctors check for the protozoa by examining a sample of bone marrow or fluid from the sore. Doctors do a Spinal Tap (lumbar puncture) using a needle inserted along the person's lower spine to obtain a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord) to determine whether the infection involves the cerebrospinal fluid and brain. Doctors check the fluid sample for the protozoa and for other signs of the infection. Such signs include increases in the fluid's pressure and in the number of white blood cells in the fluid. 