Zika virus: clinical manifestations and treatment at a primary care institution in Colombia

Abstract

Introduction: Although Zika virus cases have been reported in Colombia since 2015, its clinical and pharmacological characteristics have not yet been described.Objective: To describe the main clinical manifestations and sociodemographic characteristics of patients diagnosed with Zika and the treatment provided to them at a primary care hospital in a municipality of Colombia.Materials and methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population consisted of patients diagnosed with Zika between January 1 and July 25, 2016 at a first-level hospital. Sociodemographic, clinical and pharmacological variables, as well as adverse clinical and paraclinical outcomes associated with the infection were included. Descriptive statistics were performed. A χ² test was used for categorical variables, and a multivariate analysis was conducted using Epi info 7.1 software.Results: 254 individuals infected with Zika virus during the study period were identified, and Zika diagnosis was more frequent in women (68.5%). Regarding treatment, 90.9% of the cases were treated using acetaminophen. The most commonly reported symptoms were rash (81.1%) and pruritus (55.9%). In addition, antihistamines were the most frequent comedication (31.9%). Factors such as being a woman, being pregnant and inpatient treatment were associated with adverse clinical and paraclinical outcomes.Conclusion: The clinical manifestations described here are similar to those reported in other populations. Furthermore, inappropriate pharmacological management practices that can lead to complications in this population, such as bleeding, were observed in some cases, thus educational interventions on the proper prescription of medications for treating this disease aimed at general physicians working in Zika affected areas must be implemented in order to improve the prognosis of these patients.