Winterbottom's sign
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Template:Infobox medical condition
Winterbottom's sign is a swelling of lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy) along the posterior cervical lymph node chain, associated with the early phase of African trypanosomiasis (African sleeping sickness), a disease caused by the parasites Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. It may be suggestive of cerebral infection.[1]
The sign was first reported by the English physician Thomas Masterman Winterbottom in 1803.[2] Winterbottom observed that slave traders would palpate the necks of slaves before purchasing them, likely to prevent losses from their human merchandise by sleeping sickness.[3][4][5]