Clinical Profile Of Patients Infected With The Chikungunya Virus In A Colombian Caribbean Population

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 Fundación Hospital Universitario Metropolitano de Barranquilla for serological confirmation, after being previously diagnosed with chikungunya virus infection by rheumatologists from the Rheumatology and Orthopaedics Centre. 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 to 82 years. The main clinical manifestations were: 1. localised 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 behaviour of rheumatoid arthritis, but not so similarly in the chronic phase. There was no autoimmune reaction, and therefore can not be classified as a type of Rheumatoid process