Autor(es)Chipwaza Beatrice, Mugasa Joseph P, Selemani Majige, Amuri Mbaraka, Mosha Fausta, Ngatunga Steve D, Gwakisa Paul S

ResumoViral etiologies of fever, including dengue, Chikungunya, influenza, rota - adeno viruses, cause major disease burden in tropical - subtropical countries. The lack of diagnostic facilities in developing countries leads to failure to estimate the true burden of such illnesses, - generally the diseases are underreported. These diseases may have similar symptoms with other causes of acute febrile illnesses including malaria - hence clinical diagnosis without laboratory tests can be difficult. This study aimed to identify viral etiologies as a cause of fever in children - their co-infections with malaria. A cross sectional study was conducted for 6 months at Kilosa district hospital, Tanzania. The participants were febrile children aged 2-13 years presented at the outpatient department. Diagnostic tests such as IgM - IgG ELISA, - PCR were used. A total of 364 patients were enrolled, of these 83(22.8%) had malaria parasites, 76 (20.9%) had presumptive acute dengue infection - among those, 29(38.2%) were confirmed cases. Dengue was more likely to occur in children ? 5 years than in <5 years (OR 2.28, 95% CI: 1.35-3.86). Presumptive acute Chikungunya infection was identified in 17(4.7%) of patients. We observed no presenting symptoms that distinguished patients with Chikungunya infection from those with dengue infection or malaria. Co-infections between malaria - Chikungunya, malaria - dengue fever as well as Chikungunya - dengue were detected. Most patients with Chikungunya - dengue infections were treated with antibacterials. Furthermore, our results revealed that 5(5.2%) of patients had influenza virus while 5(12.8%) had rotavirus - 2(5.1%) had adenovirus. Our results suggest that even though viral diseases are a major public health concern, they are not given due recognition as a cause of fever in febrile patients. Emphasis on laboratory diagnostic tests for proper diagnosis - management of febrile patients is recommended.

ImprentaPLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, v. 8, n. 11, p. e3335, 2014

DescritoresChikungunya virus - Genome ; Chikungunya virus - Viral infections ; Chikungunya Virus - Virus ; Chikungunya virus - Chikungunya fever ; Chikungunya virus - Dengue ; Chikungunya virus - Epidemiology ; Chikungunya virus - Public health

Data de Publicação:2014