Emergence of Chikungunya Virus Infection in Orissa, India

Abstract

From September through October 2006, an unknown disease characterized by acute onset of fever, joint pain with or without swelling, and maculopapular rash along with fatigue was reported from three villages of Cuttack and one village of Kendrapara district of Orissa, India, by the State Health Department. Upon learning this, a team from Regional Medical Research Centre (Indian Council of Medical Research), Bhubaneswar, Orissa, conducted an epidemiological investigation in the area. Household survey was carried out and clinical examination of the symptomatic individuals (n = 1289: Kendrapara, 752; Cuttack, 537) undertaken. Based on the recorded chikungunya (CHIK) fever symptoms, a vector-borne viral disease was considered for provisional diagnosis. Blood samples were collected from 217 symptomatic individuals; to confirm the diagnosis, sera were tested for anti-CHIK antibody (immunoglobulin M), which revealed 63% (64/101) and 40% (47/116) seropositivity in the samples from Kendrapara and Cuttack district, respectively. The illness was managed with analgesics like paracetamol. No death was recorded due to the illness. Entomological survey in the areas revealed the presence of Aedes mosquitoes: aegypti, albopictus, and vittatus. The per-man-hour density of Aedes vectors ranged from 0.8 to 7.6. High larval indices, house index >17% and Breteau index >70%, also indicated Aedes breeding in the area. The investigation documented circulation of CHIK in Orissa, India, and helped to take preventive steps in the outbreak area, with the suggested vector control measures.

Prevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies to Chikungunya virus among outpatients with febrile illness attending University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria

“…The males are usually engaged in occupations that may expose them to bites by the vectors. However, the present finding disagrees with the earlier reports (Balasubramaniam et al, 2011;Dwibedi et al, 2011;Mohanty et al, 2013). The difference may probably be as a result of difference in geographical location and presence of socio-economic factors that facilitated the breeding of Aedes vector in their study area.…”

Seroprevalence of chikungunya in southern Odisha

“…This type of seasonal variation was seen in most of the studies, because of the increase in vector density during the rainy season. [4510] The age group 15-45 years was mostly affected whereas lower number of cases were seen from elderly persons >60 years in our study. In the gender distribution, the number of affected females was more than males.…”

A Seroprevalence Survey of Common Viral Infections Among Suspected Cases Attending Tertiary Care Hospital in Amritsar District of Punjab, India

“…This also shows the improvement at clinical diagnosis level in differentiating between chikungunya and dengue infections. [12][13] The ChikV was slightly more prevalent in females (54%) as compared to the males (46%) supported by other findings by Balasubramaniam et al [14] and Dwibedi et al, [15] but in contrast with the pattern seen be Kalawat et al [16] and Singh et al [8] However, the males (64%) outnumbered females (36%) in Den V positivity. Similar pattern observed by other researchers.…”