Chikungunya
Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease that can cause sudden onset of fever and severe joint pain. Other signs and symptoms include fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, and rashes.
Signs and symptoms of chikungunya usually appear within two to seven days after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
Unfortunately, there is no vaccine to prevent chikungunya fever, and no effective antiviral treatment. However, the disease has limited spread and rarely causes serious complications.
Treatment is usually aimed at relieving symptoms, such as rest, replacing lost fluids, and administering medications to relieve joint pain and fever.
Chikungunya outbreaks were first reported in Africa, Asia, Europe, and islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The first cases of chikungunya reported in the Americas occurred in 2013, on islands in the Caribbean.
Most people recover fully and symptoms will last between three and 10 days. However, for some people, joint pain can continue for months, or even years.
Death from complications of chikungunya is very rare, but the virus sometimes causes serious problems, mostly in older adults with other chronic illnesses.
People who have been infected once are likely to be protected from future infection.
Symptoms of Chikungunya
The initial symptom of chikungunya is usually a fever followed by a rash.
After the bite of an infected mosquito, onset of disease usually occurs 4 to 8 days later but can range from 2 to 12 days.
Symptoms of chikungunya include:
- Sudden high fever (usually above 38.8 degrees Celsius).
- Joint pain.
- Headache.
- Muscle pain.
- Arthritis.
- Red eye.
- Nauseous.
- Vomit.
- Maculopapular rash (characterized by flat red areas of skin covered with raised bumps).
The majority of people infected with the virus will have symptoms. Meanwhile, the CDC reports that about 3 to 28 percent of people infected with chikungunya are asymptomatic.
If Chikungunya Symptoms Appear, Contact This Doctor Immediately to Get Proper Treatment.
According to the CDC, fever symptoms also typically last anywhere from a few days to a week. Fevers can also be biphasic, meaning they come in two stages.
Most patients recover completely from the infection, but in some cases joint pain can persist for months, or even years.
According to the CDC, some patients will experience a recurrence of rheumatic symptoms such as polyarthralgia, polyarthritis, tenosynovitis, or Raynaud’s syndrome within months of the acute illness.
Studies have reported that anywhere from 5 to 80 percent of patients will experience persistent joint pain, as well as prolonged fatigue, for months or years after their illness.
Once a person recovers, they will be immune from future infections.
Severe cases and deaths from chikungunya are very rare and are almost always associated with other existing health problems.
People at risk for more severe illness include newborns who were infected around the time of birth, adults over age 65, and people with medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease.
Chikungunya Risk Factors
Because the cause is the same mosquito that causes dengue fever, namely Aedes aegypti, the risk factors are not much different from dengue fever, namely:
- Living or traveling to tropical areas or areas where sanitation is poor.
- Infants, children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.
Causes of Chikungunya
Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. It is caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV).
An infected person cannot transmit the virus directly to another person. The disease is spread when a mosquito feeds on a person with the virus circulating in their blood.
Mosquitoes can pick up viruses and spread them to other people through their bites.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), no infants have been found to be infected with the chikungunya virus from consuming breast milk.
The chikungunya virus is also most commonly transmitted to humans by the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.
CHIKV epidemics in Africa and Asia have been primarily associated with the urban mosquito Aedes aegypti. However, since the outbreak in Réunion in 2005, Aedes albopictus has been introduced as a second major vector of CHIKV.
Aedes albopictus is more widely distributed and has the ability to survive in temperate climates. It differs from Aedes aegypti, which lives mainly in tropical and subtropical areas.
The proximity of mosquito breeding sites to human habitation is a significant risk factor for chikungunya.
Diagnosis
If you have recently returned from an area with known transmission of the virus and have a high fever and joint pain, your doctor will recommend a series of blood tests to detect the presence of the chikungunya virus or antibodies.
Several methods can be used to diagnose chikungunya virus infection. Such as serological tests, such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), which can confirm the presence of anti-chikungunya IgM and IgG antibodies.
Chikungunya virus antibodies usually develop towards the end of the first week of illness.
IgM antibody levels peak three to five weeks after disease onset and persist for about two months.
The virus can be detected directly in the blood during the first few days of infection as well.
Samples collected during the first week of illness were tested by serological and virological methods.
Blood tests can also look for similar viruses such as dengue and Zika, which have similar symptoms. Test results are usually available 4 to 14 days after the specimen is received by the lab.
Complications
Everyone who experiences chikungunya disease should immediately get treatment before the symptoms get worse.
Because this disease can cause complications in many parts of the body, such as:
- Myocarditis. This disorder occurs due to inflammation of the heart muscle (myocardium). This can affect the heart muscle and the heart’s electrical system, reducing the heart’s ability to pump. A person with this disease can feel a fast or abnormal heart rhythm.
- Uveitis. Occurs due to inflammation of the middle layer of the eye (uvea) which contains the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. A person who experiences this disorder can be marked by very red eyes because this part contains many veins and arteries.
- Retinitis. This disorder can threaten a person’s vision by damaging the retina. If you experience it, you can lose your vision.
- Myelitis. This disease can cause inflammation in the spinal cord. This nerve disorder generally damages the insulating material that is useful for covering nerve cell fibers. Sufferers of this disorder can experience problems with messages sent by the spinal cord nerves throughout the body. Some of the symptoms are muscle weakness, paralysis, and sensory problems.
Chikungunya Treatment
There is no specific antiviral drug for chikungunya, so treatment is focused solely on relieving the symptoms that appear.
Some treatments that can be done include:
- Antipyretics to reduce fever.
- Analgesics to relieve pain and reduce fever.
- Drink plenty of fluids.
- Rest.
Given the similarity of symptoms between chikungunya and dengue, in areas where both viruses circulate, patients with suspected chikungunya should avoid taking aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs until the diagnosis of dengue is excluded.
Once the diagnosis is established, patients with persistent joint pain may benefit from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroids, including topical preparations.
Additionally, physical therapy can help reduce symptoms.
Chikungunya Prevention
There is no vaccine or preventative medicine for chikungunya, so the best way to avoid infection is to prevent mosquito bites.
However, there are potential vaccines being evaluated in clinical trials.
Basic precautions should be taken by people traveling to high-risk areas, including:
- Wear long sleeves, long pants, and other clothing that minimizes skin exposure.
- Using mosquito repellent on skin or clothing.
- Ensure indoor spaces have adequate curtains to repel mosquitoes.
- Use an insecticide-treated mosquito net over your bed if you plan to sleep during the day.
- Wearing a mosquito net over your face and neck, in addition to using gloves or mosquito repellent lotion, if you spend a lot of time outdoors.
- Avoid traveling to areas experiencing chikungunya outbreaks.
- Use mosquito coils and insecticide vaporizers during the day.
Reducing the number of mosquito breeding sites around the house can also reduce the mosquito population significantly.
Some simple steps you can take include:
- Emptying water from containers, such as saucers under plant pots, vases, buckets, and rain gutters.
- Covering water containers that cannot be emptied, such as tanks or reservoirs that supply household water.
- Getting rid of the old tires left outside.
- Storing trash in closed plastic bags and other closed containers arrow up.
If you have been diagnosed with chikungunya, you should take special care to prevent mosquito bites during the first week of the illness.
Because at this time, the virus can be transmitted to mosquitoes and then to other people.