Dementia and human African tripanosomiasis

Abstract

Dementia is a syndrome, usually chronic or progressive in nature, characterized by impaired cognitive function. It affects memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning ability, language and judgment and is one of the leading causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide. Ii is caused by various diseases and injuries that affect the brain and alter brain function and mental status, including infections, metabolic dysfunctions, brain tumors, toxic exposure, nutritional deficit, and cerebral hypoxia. African trypanosomiasis, caused by protozoa of the genus Trypanosoma, can cause encephalopathies by the infectious agent or derived from the indicated treatment. Many of the countries where Cuba provides internationalist collaboration have been victims of epidemics during the last century, so collaborators are exposed to the risk of suffering and facing this disease. The objective of this study was to present a case with encephalitis admitted to the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine, in which it was difficult to differentiate whether it was due to damage by the causative agent or to the treatment imposed and to alert the need for preventive measures.