Chikungunya May Affect Central Nervous System, Lungs, and Joints, Study Says

Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) supported research conducted by an international team of researchers showing that Chikungunya virus infection can trigger more severe manifestations than the usual symptoms, including headache, rash, intense muscle and joint pain, and fever. 

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According to Eureka Alert, 38 researchers from the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), University of Sau Paulo (USP), Ministry of Health in Brazil, Imperial College London, Oxford University performed the analysis of the virus. The study's main discovery is that the Chikungunya virus can affect the central nervous system then damage cognitive and motor functions. 

World Health Organization (WHO) described the chikungunya virus as a disease that shares clinical signs with dengue and the Zika virus. Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes carrying the chikungunya virus (CHIKV). The infection causes fever and severe joint pain. However, it may be accompanied by joint swelling, muscle pain, nausea, headache, rash, and fatigue. 

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In a statement, William Marciel de Souza, co-author of an article in the study and researcher at the University of Sao Paolo's Ribeirão Preto Medical School (FMRP-USP), said that they did not only confirm that the virus affects the central nervous system. He added that they also found out that the disease can be fatal for young adults rather than in children and the elderly, which is usually predicted in the disease's outbreaks. He also stressed that the study presents that patients with diabetes have a seven times higher risk of mortality more frequently during the acute or subacute phase of the disease than people who do not have diabetes. 

According to Eureka Alert, the study was based on an analysis and epidemiological data such as blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and tissue samples from patients who died during the outbreak in 2017 in Ceará, Brazil was recorded as the worst chikungunya outbreak in America. 

Souza added that joint pain was the most frequent symptom. Viral RNA is also found in the cerebrospinal fluid from the 36 patients and in four brain tissue samples, which according to the researchers, is clear evidence that the virus is capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier that protects the central nervous system causing the infection of the brain.

Outbreaks in the United States

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the chikungunya virus is rarely identified in American travelers before 2006. In their data, from 2006 to 2013, studies identified that 28 Americans annually have positive tests for chikungunya virus infection. They added that all were travelers visiting or returning to the United States from areas where the disease is endemic, such as Asia, Africa, or the Indian Ocean. CDC further said that in late 2013, the first local transmission of the virus in the U.S. is identified in the Caribbean countries and territories. This only means that mosquitoes in the said area have been infected, which causes spreading. 

On the other hand, the World Health Organization said there is still no specific antiviral drug treatment for chikungunya. They added that clinical managements only target the relieving of the symptoms. Paracetamol and acetaminophen are administered to the patients, and aspirin should not be taken by chikungunya virus patients because, like the dengue virus, they both circulate in the body. 

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