Trypanosomiasis / Sleeping sickness - Glossary

Immunity: Pertains to the body’s inherent protective mechanism that offers resistance to an infectious disease.

Chronic: Implying a permanent, repetitive condition lasting for years.

Incubation: The duration between the onset of infection caused by a pathogen and the manifestation of clinical symptoms.

Vaccine: A substance, whose attributes causes the activation of the immune system, to take on an imminent intruder to the body in the form of microorganisms.

Infection: An attack on the body by disease inducing agents like bacteria, viruses or fungi which inflict harm to the body and tissues.

Intravenous: Through a vein.

Parasite: That which completely depends on or resides inside another organism drawing sustenance from the host.

Constipation: Difficulty in passing motion due to sluggish bowel movements.

Coma: A state of unarousable unconsciousness.

Seizure: Convulsions; sudden, involuntary movements of the muscles.

Rash: A cluster of spots on a swollen patch of skin.

Insomnia: A state of persistent wakefulness during sleep hours; victims are simply unable to fall asleep at night.

Feces: Waste from the body also called as stools. This waste is expelled from the bowels.

Protozoal: Relates to the most basic and completely uncomplicated organism in the animal kingdom- Protozoa. They are organisms which contain just one cell, like amoeba.

Transplantation: The surgical transfer of an organ or tissue from one position (or person) to another.

Response: In medical parlance, ‘response’ is indicative of a positive development associated with the treatment.

Cardiomyopathy: A condition where the heart muscle is diseased and becomes incapable of efficiently pumping blood.