Year: 2018 | Month: June | Volume 7 | Issue 1
Chikungunya: An Emerging Threat
Abstract:
Chikungunya is an important mosquito borne arboviral disease causing periodic epidemics world over. India also faces the brunt of this disease every few years which is associated with acute as well as long term consequences. The burden of this disease has been ever increasing since the 2006 outbreak, the latest outbreak occurring in 2016. Chikungunya has been typically associated with fever, joint pains and rash but during the last few epidemics, lot of atypical presentations of this common disease occurred. It was thought to be a benign self- limiting disease but in recent time, severe disease with multi-organ involvement requiring intensive care and causing mortality have been reported from India and other countries, especially in patients with co-morbid illnesses. Many patients suffer from chronic consequences of this chronic inflammatory rheumatism lasting for years, affecting the quality of life and productivity of the affected population. This review highlights the epidemiology, the changing clinical spectrum, the available diagnostic modalities and the management of acute and chronic manifestations of this challenging infection.
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