Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans by the bite of infected Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes. Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a member of the genus Alphavirus, in the family Togaviridae. CHIKV was first isolated from the blood of a febrile patient in Tanzania in 1953, and has since been identified repeatedly in west, central and southern Africa and many areas of Asia, and has been cited as the cause of numerous human epidemics in those areas since that time. The virus circulates throughout much of Africa, with transmission thought to occur mainly between mosquitoes and monkeys. Symptoms of Chikungunya Symptoms of Chikungunya includes debilitating arthralgia (joint pain), swelling of joints, stiffness of joints, myalgia (muscular pain), headache, fatigue (weakness), nausea, vomiting and rash and fever. The incubation period (time from infection to illness) can be 2-12 days, but is usually 3-7 days. Silent CHIKV infections (infections without illness) do occur; but how commonly this happens is not yet known. Acute chikungunya fever typically lasts a few days to a couple of weeks, but some patients have prolonged fatigue lasting several weeks. Additionally, some patients have reported incapacitating joint pain, or arthritis which may last for weeks or months. No deaths, neuro-invasive cases, or hemorrhagic cases related to CHIKV infection have been conclusively documented in the scientific literature. CHIKV infection (whether clinical or silent) is thought to confer life-long immunity.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 02:09:44 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015