Translation of human African trypanosomiasis biomarkers towards field application

• New diagnostic tools are required to keep HAT under control.
• A gold standard for HAT stage determination is missing.
• Biomarkers and tools proposed to improve HAT patient management are revised.
• Translation of HAT biomarkers into a field test is a critical issue.

Sleeping sickness is a neglected tropical disease affecting rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. The reduction in the number of reported cases in recent years indicates that disease transmission is under control. However, many aspects of patient management still need to be improved. Undiagnosed patients or inappropriate treatment due to an incorrect determination of the disease stage could in fact lead to its re-emergence. There is thus a strong need for new diagnostic and staging tools to keep the disease under control and to improve the clinical care of patients. This review describes the most promising biomarkers proposed so far for the diagnosis and stage determination of patients suffering from sleeping sickness, with a particular emphasis on their translation into diagnostic tools for field applications.

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