A case of congenital trypanosomiasis in Lagos

A 17-day old baby girl presented with signs and symptoms of neonatal meningitis, except that she did not respond to the usual drugs. Intensive investigations showed that she had trypanosomal meningo-encephalitis or sleeping sickness. Her CSF was full of T. gambiense. Her mother's blood, but not her CSF, also contained the parasites. The clinical features and laboratory findings of the disease in this neonate were very different from those usually found in adults. Furthermore, her infection was complicated by the syndrome of inappropriate anti-diuretic hormone secretion. She died of the disease and its complications probably aggravated by the drug (suramin) with which she was treatedmthis is believed to be the first case of congenital trypanosomiasis described in Nigeria, and it occurred in Lagos where it was least expected;