The chikungunya epidemic: A look at five cases
Autor(es): Shiferaw Bethel, Lam Paul, Tuthill Summer, Choudhry Hira, Syed Sarah, Ahmed Shadab, Yasmin Tabassum
Resumo: Chikungunya is an infection caused by the Chikungunya virus - transmitted by the bite of infected mosquito. The most common symptoms of Chikungunya virus infection are fever, joint pain or rash. Chikungunya virus outbreaks had been identified in countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, - the Indian - Pacific Oceans. In late 2013, the first local transmission of Chikungunya virus in the Americas was identified in Caribbean countries - territories. Chikungunya virus disease became a nationally notifiable condition in 2015. There is a threat that Chikungunya will continue to spread to new areas in the Americas. We describe 5 patients who presented to our hospital with Chikungunya infection, shortly after returning from endemic areas. Fever - travel history to endemic areas were documented in all of our cases. Skin rash, arthralgia - contact history were also reported by these patients. Persons with suspected Chikungunya infection should be counseled to avoid mosquito bites during illness to decrease the risk of local transmission. The transmitting mosquitos are present in the US, - limiting the viral spread is essential. In this report, we describe the clinical presentation, risk factors - laboratory tests of each patient, - attempt to ensure awareness on the risk of potential spread of the disease.
Palavras-Chave: Americas; Chikungunya; Endemic; Epidemic; Local transmission
Imprenta: IDCases, v. 2, n. 4, p. 89-91, 2015
Identificador do objeto digital: 10.1016/j.idcr.2015.08.004
Descritores: Chikungunya Virus - Virus ; Chikungunya virus - Transmission ; Chikungunya virus - Chikungunya fever ; Chikungunya virus - Epidemic
Data de publicação: 2015
