Treatment for acute sleeping sickness has been brutal — until now
![Alexis Mukwedi tested positive for sleeping sickness during a two-day mobile screening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He had complained about nervous tics and fatigue.](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/12/28/hat-drc-fexifilm-june2018_158_toned_wide-96b9800d642c634ec1456b065e64d45f57a1e8d6.jpg?s=600)
An oral drug is proving an effective treatment for the acute strain of this potentially fatal disease — an alternative to injections of drugs that posed serious risks to the patient.
(Image credit: Xavier Vaheed-DNDi)
![](https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=1221330301)