Market Overview

Sleeping Sickness is the most common life-threatening infection encountered in patient populations affected in rural areas particularly in African countries. These infections are not severe but they are often neglected leading to death of the affected person. Sleeping sickness is caused due to parasitic causative agent called Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense.

This causative agent is carried by Tsetse flies that causes the most severe form of illness. The infection carried by Tsetse fly spreads through the blood after the fly bites are encountered. It causes inflammation of the brain and often effects the central nervous system if left untreated which even leads to death.

Some of the major sleeping sickness symptoms include anxiety, mood swings, fever, headache, insomnia, weakness, swollen lymph nodes, sweating and swollen red nodule at the site of fly bite. A variety of diagnostic tests are carried out to confirm detection of parasites in the blood stream or lymph, thereby driving the growth of sleeping sickness testing market. The major diagnostic tests for the detection of sleeping sickness are broadly categorized into active screening tests and stage diagnostic tests.

Active screening tests constituting the major share of sleeping sickness testing market include agglutination test for Trypanosomiasis, lymph node aspiration, dipstick testing, lateral flow test, rapid diagnostic tests for detection and confirmation of amplified Trypanosoma brucei DNA, and others. Out of these, card agglutination test for Trypanosomiasis (CATT) is the most common diagnostic test for detection of sleeping sickness, which dominated the sleeping sickness testing market.

A rapid diagnosis followed by appropriate treatment is required to be done in order to control sleeping sickness. A large number of laboratory tests and microbiological screening tests are performed to detect and confirm the presence of disease causing antigens in blood samples obtained from patients. However, stage diagnostic tests include blood smear testing, cerebrospinal fluid testing, and complete blood count test to determine the stage of disease in the patient.

The sleeping sickness testing is done on the basis of characteristic stage of the infection including early stage called as hemolymphatic stage, and progressive stage called as oligosymptomatic phase. Also, sleeping sickness testing is done using molecular techniques mainly PCR and biochemical techniques including agglutination tests and ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay), playing vital role in sleeping sickness testing market. Medicinal drugs including Eflornithine, Melarsoprol, Pentamidine, and Suramin are used as major treatment drugs for sleeping sickness.

Growing technological advancement in molecular and clinical microbiology techniques coupled with rising incidence of sleeping sickness in the rural areas are the primary factors driving the sleeping sickness testing market. Development of advanced rapid diagnostic tests for detection of neurological infections and increased application of advanced biotechnology in clinical microbiology is fueling the growth of sleeping sickness testing market with the launch of upgraded diagnostic tests.

Also, growing trend of pharmaceutical companies to manufacture novel drugs and diagnostic techniques are some other factors driving the growth of sleeping sickness testing market. However, lack of awareness about novel diagnostic tests and cost-intensive diagnostic tests are factors restraining the growth of sleeping sickness testing market. Lack of skilled manpower to run sensitive rapid diagnostic tests and kits further hinders the growth of sleeping sickness testing market.

The global sleeping sickness testing market is segmented on basis of test type, technique, end user and geographic region:

by Test Type	Active Screening Test Card Agglutination Test for Trypanosomiasis (CATT) Immunochromatographic Rapid Diagnostic Test Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification Test (LAMP) Lymph Node Aspiration Dipstick Testing Lateral Flow Capillary Tube Centrifugation (CTT) Stage Diagnosis Test Blood Smear Cerebrospinal Fluid Test (CBF) Complete Blood Count Test (CBC)
by Technique	Molecular Techniques PCR Biochemical Techniques Agglutination ELISA
by End User	Hospitals Clinics Diagnostic Centers and Laboratories Academic Institutions
by Geography	North America Latin America Europe Asia-Pacific Middle East & Africa

On the basis of type of sleeping sickness testing, card agglutination test for Trypanosomiasis (CATT) is extensively performed screening test over other tests owing to its ability to screen large populations affected with infection with an ease. However, molecular techniques such as a real-time PCR allows the doctors and physicians to perform high-multiplexed tests in order to diagnose and confirm sleeping sickness by carrying out amplification of Trypanosoma brucei DNA. Lymph node aspiration and dipstick testing are also commonly used diagnostic methods. The rising utilization rate of these diagnostic tests in hospitals and clinics is driving the growth of sleeping sickness testing market.

Based on geography, global sleeping sickness testing market is segmented into five key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Out of these, Middle East & Africa registered the largest shares in global sleeping sickness testing market due to the rising prevalence of disease in the central African countries.

The region is anticipated to dominate over the forecast period on the account of growing patients suffering from sleeping sickness. On the other hand, North America is expected to register slow growth during forecast period in global sleeping sickness testing market on the account of least incidence rate of infection in the region due to strict medical regulations associated with migrants.

Some of the key players present in global sleeping sickness testing market are Bayer AG, Sanofi S.A., Eiken Chemical Co., Jena Bioscience GmbH, Alere Inc., BD Biosciences and others.