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Rheumatic symptoms may persist in patients with chikungunya for more than 1 year
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Findings presented at ID Week confirmed 45.6% of 171 Colombian patients with chikungunya had rheumatic symptoms that persisted for more than 1 year.
“Chikungunya is an emerging arboviral disease endemic in tropical areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America [that] is able not just to produce acute manifestations, but also chronic complications, such as rheumatological disease,” Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales, told Healio Rheumatology. “This study confirms that persistence of chikungunya-related chronic rheumatism would be evident more than a year after infection.”
Rodriguez-Morales and colleagues assessed a cohort with the longest follow-up in Latin America. From 2015 to 2016, they examined 171 patients with chikungunya that persisted with post-chikungunya virus inflammatory rheumatism (pCHIK-CIR) for a minimum of 9.1 months and a maximum of 12.6 months. They identified pCHIK-CIR cases through telephone and excluded patients who presented with other arboviruses during follow-up.
They found 45.6% of patients reported pCHIK-CIR. All patients reported pain in the joints. In addition, 43.9% reported morning stiffness; 38.6% reported joint edema; and 19.9% reported joint redness. Of all patients, 21.1% required care and received it. Initial follow-up at 6.5 months showed a persistence of 53.7% in a group of 283 patients.
Further, these results confirm previous meta-analyses conducted in France, India and other Colombian cohorts.
“Although only published data from our group in Colombia is available for Latin America, this would be similar in other countries affected by chikungunya in the region,” Rodriguez-Morales said. “This would have significant implications in disability and related costs. Finally, travelers returning from endemic areas should be followed-up between 12 weeks and 12 months in order to assess this complication and proceed to early diagnosis and proper management.” – by Will Offit
Reference:
Rodriguez-Morales AJ, et al. Paper #88. Presented at: ID Week. Oct. 26-30, 2016; New Orleans.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.