Chikungunya virus: clinical aspects and treatment - A Review

Abstract

Chikungunya is a severe and debilitating disease. Currently, Brazil is experiencing an epidemic caused by three arboviruses, which has changed the way health professionals have diagnosed and treated infected patients. The difficulty of diagnosis and the lack of a protocol for patient treatment, which fits Brazilian health system models, have made it difficult to manage this disease. It is necessary to implement a multidisciplinary network of patient care, in which primary care units play the main role. This review aims to present current information regarding the clinical aspects and treatment of Chikungunya virus infection.

Clinical findings from patients in different phases of the disease. A: oedema of lower limbs, one of the most commonly observed clinical manifestations in adult in the acute phase; B: patient during the acute and post-acute phase presented intense inflammation of the right Achilles tendon, which left as a sequel, the shortening of this tendon in the chronic phase; C: severe cutaneous manifestation in a patient in the post-acute phase, with 80 days of disease, in the fifth episode of lesions onset; D: the same patient referred to in C, after prolonged use of corticosteroids, the lesions disappear, but the hyperchromic spots remained as sequelae; E: restriction of movements in the upper limbs due to the intense inflammatory process in the shoulders and elbows; F: alopecia in a patient in the chronic phase, with approximately 18 months of disease, one of the most frequent clinical findings at this stage, especially among adult women.