Chikungunya virus infections: time to act, time to treat

Abstract

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a re-emerging alphavirus that caused massive outbreaks of Chikungunya fever in several countries and regions in Africa, Asia and more recently in Central and South America. An acute CHIKV infection is usually associated with fever and arthritis and it is rarely fatal. However, 15-60% of patients suffer from chronic polyarthralgia for weeks, months or even for several years after the acute infection. There are currently no vaccines or antivirals available for the prevention or treatment of CHIKV infections. The development of potent and safe antivirals for prophylaxis (e.g., during travel to CHIKV-endemic regions) and treatment of CHIKV infections is urgently needed. We here review some of the recently reported CHIKV inhibitors, both directly-acting and host-targeting compounds.