Chikungunya fever: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention

Chikungunya fever is a disease spread by the bites of infected mosquitoes. Annually up to one and a half million people in such regions as India and South Asia are exposed to this virus. In addition, large-scale outbreaks of this fever occur in Central and East Africa, countries located on the Indian Ocean coast, namely in Gabon, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mayotte, Maldives, Comoros and Seychelles. In 2007, due to imported infection, chikungunya fever was registered in Italy.

What is this disease, how does it manifest itself?

Combating the Danger

Thus, the rapid increase in the incidence of disease, along with the expansion of the geography of the spread of the disease over the past few years, indicate the vulnerability of people in the face of emerging infectious diseases that are carried by insects. In view of the situation, programs aimed at combating viruses and providing security in the healthcare sphere are especially important.

What causes fever?

Chikungunya fever is transmitted through mosquito bites, which belong to the Kusaka family. It can be infected in India, Africa or Asia. It is noteworthy that dangerous mosquitoes to date have spread, among other things, even in Europe and North America. The very term "chikungunya" in translation means "what is crooked".The disease is of African descent. Like the yellow fever virus, in nature it is transmitted from monkeys and mosquitoes, and in urban conditions can be transferred from one person to another. Especially widely chikungunya spread in Asia. In the villages of African and Asian regions, the disease is sporadic, and in cities there are epidemics from time to time. The above are the main ways of infection in chikungunya fever.

Stability of the

virus Due to its physical properties, this virus is very unstable to the environment, as a result of which it quickly undergoes death on the background of exposure to high temperature or sunlight. Also, when using disinfectants, it can be quickly destroyed.

Pathogenesis of the disease

As already mentioned, the chikungunya virus can be obtained by biting a mosquito, and in addition, from an infected person. These mosquitoes bite during the daytime. The peak of their aggressiveness is early morning and evening. Malicious insects bite both outdoors and inside buildings. As a rule, on average, the disease manifests itself on the fourth to the eighth day after the bite received, sometimes this time interval is from two to twelve days. There are reliable data that, in addition to mosquitoes, there may be some animals.

Symptoms of the disease

This disease usually lasts five to seven days. Chikungunya fever often causes severe pain in the joints, limiting their functions, which can last a fairly long time. The unfolded picture of a viral infection is mainly observed among adults and can take place in a very severe form.

What are the main signs of chikungunya fever?

At the end of the incubation period of two to three days, a person suddenly experiences fever accompanied by severe arthralgia, chills, headaches, photophobia, conjunctival hyperemia, loss of appetite, and nausea and abdominal pain. The migrating nature of polyarthritis mainly affects the small joints of the feet, hands, ankles and wrists. Large joints suffer much less often. From the very beginning of the fever, or two or three days later, there is a rash. The most intense rashes are found on the trunk and extremities, in addition, peeling is possible. Petechiae and nasal bleeding may occur less frequently. In general, such a phenomenon as bleeding is uncharacteristic even for children. Some patients have leukopenia.

Changes in blood

With chikungunya fever in the blood of patients, the activity of the cell enzyme increases, as well as the concentration of the reactive protein, which is accompanied by a decrease in the number of platelets. Until the time of recovery may take weeks. In elderly patients, insufficient joint mobility and arthralgia may persist for a long time. Quite often, individual cases of ocular, neurological, and cardiac complications are registered with a violation of the activity of the digestive organs. Serious complications of the virus are rare, but for a number of elderly people, such a disease can be fatal. In general, the disease passes with little symptomatology, and the infection can not be detected at all. For the regions of the spread of the dengue virus, an incorrect diagnosis is likely, due to the fact that its signs are similar to the symptoms of chikungunya fever.

Diagnosis of the

fever Various methods are used to diagnose the disease. There are various serological tests, among which, for example, an immunosorbent assay using fixed enzymes is used. This technique can detect the presence of antibodies to the virus. The highest level of antibodies is reached one month after the incubation period and lasts for eight weeks. This virus can be isolated during the first few days after it enters the human blood.

There are also various methods of polymerase chain reaction with the procedure of reverse transcriptase. It is worth saying that the sensitivity of these methods is different, some of them may be suitable for clinical diagnosis. The products obtained from clinical samples are used for genotyping the disease, which, in turn, makes it possible to compare virus samples from certain geographical regions.

The main thing is to recognize the symptoms of chikungunya fever in time to avoid complications.

Treatment of

This fever rarely takes a life-threatening form. As such, there is no special treatment for this virus, but various anesthetics, in particular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, can be used to alleviate pain and also against swelling. It should be noted that against the background of infection with this fever, in no case should you take aspirin.

Treatment of chikungunya fever is performed exclusively in a hospital. Such a patient shows pathogenetic therapy, which improves the functions of organs that were affected by the disease. In addition, there is a normalization of metabolism and increased nonspecific resistance, as well as immune function of the body.

As noted above, in the presence of severe symptoms, the main measures for treating fever should be directed to reducing temperature, eliminating intoxication, eliminating pain syndrome and other life-threatening reactions.

In addition, especially important in the treatment of this disease is the strengthening of the vascular wall. For this, patients with fever are prescribed hemostatic therapy. In the case of a strong exaltation in patients, they are prescribed sedative medications.

Scientific developments for the treatment of

The spread of chikungunya fever, of course, frightens. What do scientists do? To date, a vaccine against the disease, which, however, has not yet been tested, has been developed. The creation of a vaccine is a merit of American scientists. The study was conducted by a team of specialists from the National Institute of Allergic Reactions and Infectious Diseases of the United States of America. During the research, scientists discovered several structural proteins belonging to the virus. On their basis, virus-like particles were developed in the laboratory, which in their structure are similar to the causative agent of fever, but are not capable of causing infection. Two weeks after the introduction of these virus-like elements to macaques, scientists managed to infect animals with this fever.

Complete protection against infections

During the research it was also found out that the injection of the created particles provoked the production of antibodies, which ensured the animal organism full protection against infection. After this, as part of the continuation of the study, the produced serum with antibodies, which were obtained from macaques, was administered to mice with weak immunity. Then a lethal dose of chikungunya virus was introduced to rodents. As a result, serum in the body of mice prevented the development of fever. Director of the research center Gary Nebel said that his colleagues are going to get a permit that will allow them to further conduct clinical trials of the new vaccine in operation.

Scientists also expressed the hope that the method of using virus-like particles could be used to create vaccines against diseases caused by other representatives of the genus of alphaviruses, especially eastern and western equine encephalitis, and also ohnong-nong fevers.

Prevention of Chikungunya fever

Prevention of the disease involves the prevention of mosquito bites that occur mainly during the day, as well as the destruction of breeding sites for these insects. As part of the prevention of mosquito bites, experts advise putting on clothes that will cover as much of the skin as possible. Also, open skin dermis and clothing should be sprayed with mosquito repellent repellents, according to the indications contained in the annotation of a particular preparation. In order to protect the elderly and sick people, children, as well as those who rest during the day, mosquito nets should be used, whose effectiveness can be improved by treatment with insecticides. In the daytime, it is advisable to use mosquito coils, as well as spray-insecticides.

What to look for?

Mosquitoes, which are carriers of fever, can multiply in various tanks filled with rainwater. Such places, as a rule, are located near workplaces and apartment houses. For this reason, special attention should be paid to water storage tanks, pots with plants, bowls for pets, and also to abandoned car tires and food containers.

Thus, in order to destroy the locations in which mosquitoes multiply, it is required to remove the tanks placed around the house. These vessels are best kept upside down. With regard to water tanks, including those that are located indoors, they must be emptied every three to four days in order to eliminate favorable conditions for the reproduction of mosquitoes, or can be simply tightly closed to prevent dangerous insects from entering there. The causes of chikungunya fever should be known to many.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the symptoms of the disease are quite difficult to develop and are manifested by the body's intoxication syndrome, migrating polyarthritis, and also papular rash. Often, various sporadic examples of infection are recorded, as well as the development of a viral epidemic in the cities of Africa and Asia. Fortunately, this disease has usually a favorable outcome, but it is not uncommon for residual pain in the area of ​​the affected joints to persist for a fairly long time. In any case, people living in the areas of mosquito vectors, in order to protect themselves and their loved ones from infection with this virus, should take preventive measures. In particular, it is necessary to remove various containers in which rainwater can accumulate, and also cover the body as much as possible to avoid insect bites.

At the first suspicion of infection with this fever, you need to immediately seek advice from an infectious disease specialist. Especially attentive should be the Russians who go on holiday to India, Africa, Asia, or fly to the Maldives, Seychelles or Comoros, where the cases of Chikungunya fever are regularly diagnosed.