[ti:Health Report] [ar:Steve Ember] [al:Health Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.17]Health Report. [00:04.72]Sleeping sickness [00:06.35]is a deadly disease that infects [00:09.32]about sixty thousand people [00:11.55]in Africa each year. [00:13.94]Now scientists in Scotland say [00:17.68]they may have found a new treatment. [00:21.06]Their findings are [00:22.90]in the journal Science. [00:24.90]Sleeping sickness is spread [00:27.84]by the bite of the tsetse fly. [00:30.28]The insect can carry a parasite [00:33.31]that infects the central nervous system. [00:36.95]First the infection causes fever, [00:39.83]headache, itchy skin and weakness. [00:46.01]Then, when the parasite enters the brain, [00:49.75]it causes more serious problems. [00:53.28]People suffer seizures [00:55.12]and thinking problems, [00:57.57]and they sleep for extended periods. [01:00.90]If the disease is not treated, [01:04.24]it almost always kills the victim. [01:07.77]Paul Wyatt at the Drug Discovery [01:11.31]for Tropical Diseases program [01:13.79]at the University of Dundee led the study. [01:17.92]He says the research identified [01:21.51]a weakness in the parasite. [01:24.24]The weakness is an enzyme called [01:27.38] N-myristoyl transferase, or NMT. [01:32.26]The parasite needs NMT to survive. [01:36.79]The researchers developed a mixture [01:39.77]of chemicals that interfered [01:42.27]with the performance of the enzyme. [01:44.91]They tried it in test tubes [01:47.94]containing the parasites. [01:50.03]As a result, the parasites [01:52.81]stopped reproducing. [01:54.45]The scientists also tested [01:57.69]the treatment on laboratory mice [02:00.37]with sleeping sickness. [02:02.35]They gave them the chemical compound [02:05.25]by mouth and say [02:07.28]the infection disappeared. [02:09.98]Now, Paul Wyatt says a drug based [02:13.65]on the research could be ready [02:15.70]for testing in humans [02:17.39]within eighteen months. [02:20.03]Currently, medicine for sleeping sickness [02:23.82]requires a series of injections [02:26.87]that are costly and painful. [02:30.25]Hospital stays are also needed. [02:34.04]And the side effects of the treatment [02:37.27]can be serious, [02:38.62]sometimes even causing death. [02:41.56]Francois Chappuis is a specialist [02:44.93]in neglected tropical diseases [02:47.18]with the international group [02:49.57]Doctors Without Borders. [02:51.91]He says a less costly, [02:54.45]easy-to-use medicine for sleeping [02:58.17]sickness is badly needed. [03:00.37]FRANCOIS CHAPPUIS: "In areas [03:01.37]where the sleeping sickness [03:04.20]is still very prevalent, [03:06.34]such as remote areas of [03:08.83]some central African countries [03:11.57]-- which are by the way very [03:14.01]unstable areas -- it will be also [03:16.15]crucial to have simpler treatment [03:18.93]and obviously oral treatment [03:21.66]would be the best." [03:24.51]And that's the VOA Special English [03:27.66]Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. [03:31.29]Transcripts and MP3s of our reports [03:35.32]are at 51voa.com. You can also find us [03:42.88]on Twitter and YouTube. [03:45.52]And you can join the community [03:48.26]at the new VOA Learning English [03:51.49]fan page on Facebook. [03:54.53]We're at VOA Learning English. [03:58.56]I'm Steve Ember.