The Sleeping Sickness

      A disease that puts you through thee ultimate sleep; first a coma, and then you never wake up.
    It sounds like a scene from a horror movie, or a made-up disease you might read in a book, but there is nothing fictional about the sleeping sickness. This sickness is caused by a parasite called a trypanosoma parasite. These parasites live in an insect called the tsetse fly, which is similarly-looking to a housefly but has the diet of a mosquito - namely, human blood. When the tsetse fly goes to drink from an unsuspecting human, it unwittingly releases the trypanosoma into the human's bloodstream. The parasites eat at the human's red blood cells, multiplying and devouring more and more cells as they reproduce. Eventually, the loss of the cells results in a coma. The parasites continue eating the cells throughout the coma, until the patient eventually passes on.
     The sleeping sickness got it name from the results of lost red blood cells; fatigue, and physical weakness, rendering patients stuck in bed and unable to wake up. This is starting to be a huge problem in Africa, because most people in rural areas are exposed to the tsetse fly, and the disease can be passed on through blood-to-blood contact, such as a pregnant women transferring the disease to their child, a hospital using a contaminated needle, or having another insect bite a diseased and in turn transfer it to others. Epidemics of this disease are breaking out ,with symptoms including fever, headaches, joint pain, itching, confusion, poor coordination, and disturbance of the sleep cycle.
    Thankfully, the tsetse fly is not found in the US, and treatments are being made to fight against the sleeping sickness. If you were in Africa, how would YOU avoid the sleeping sickness?