Clinical profile of patients infected with the chikungunya virus in a Colombian Caribbean population

Abstract

Abstract Objective To determine the clinical profile of patients infected with the chikungunya virus. Materials and methods Descriptive longitudinal, prospective study on 109 individuals referred to the outpatient or emergency department of the Fundacion Hospital Universitario Metropolitano de Barranquilla for serological confirmation, after being previously diagnosed with chikungunya virus infection by rheumatologists from the Rheumatology and Orthopedics Center. Patients with serologically confirmed diagnosis underwent immunological test for differential diagnosis with rheumatoid arthritis. Results ELISA test were performed to serologically diagnose chikungunya virus, IgG and IgM antibodies. No chikungunya IgM test was positive, while 109 were positive for chikungunya IgG antibody. The age range was 22–82 years. The main clinical manifestations were: (1) localized pain in the hands: 82%, ankles joints: 82%, feet: 72%, headache 69%, back: 61%, and elbow: 57%. (2) Pain in other joints: 76%, and muscles 72%. (3) Peri-articular swelling: 55%. (4) Other symptoms of clinical interest: cutaneous manifestations: 53%, fever 89%, rash: 5%, nausea 31%, and incapacity: 19%. Conclusions Most signs and symptoms presented by patients with chikungunya have an extensive rheumatological component that merits further study. The joint compromise in acute and subacute phase resembles the behavior of rheumatoid arthritis, but not so similarly in the chronic phase. There was no autoimmune reaction, and therefore cannot be classified as a type of Rheumatoid process.