Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Nov 14;12(11):e0187897.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187897. eCollection 2017.

Emerging and reemerging arboviruses: A new threat in Eastern Peru

Carlos Alva-Urcia  1 , Miguel Angel Aguilar-Luis  1   2   3 , Carlos Palomares-Reyes  1   2 , Wilmer Silva-Caso  1   2   3 , Luis Suarez-Ognio  1 , Pablo Weilg  2 , Carlos Manrique  4 , Fernando Vasquez-Achaya  1   2 , Luis J Del Valle  5 , Juana Del Valle-Mendoza  1   2   3
Affiliations

Emerging and reemerging arboviruses: A new threat in Eastern Peru

Carlos Alva-Urcia et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Arboviral diseases are one of the most common causes of acute febrile illness (AFI) and a significant health problem in South America. In Peru, laboratory etiologic identification of these infections occurs in less than 50% of cases, leading to underdiagnoses of important emerging arboviruses.

Aim: To assess the prevalence of the Dengue (DENV), Oropouche (OROV), Chikungunya (CHIKV), Mayaro (MAYV) and Zika (ZIKV) viruses in patients with acute febrile illness from Puerto Maldonado (Peru).

Methodology: Serum samples were obtained from patients with AFI during January 2016 to March 2016. A total of 139 specimens were analyzed for the presence of DENV, OROV, CHIKV, MAYV, and ZIKV using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Results: CHIKV in 9.4% and OROV in 8.6% were the most prevalent arboviruses, followed by DENV and ZIKV, with a prevalence of 6.5% and 5%, respectively. Among all patients, the most common symptoms accompanying fever were headaches 79.9%, muscle pain 65.5% and joint pain 63.3%.

Conclusions: During this short 3-month period, 4 arboviruses were detected by PCR, CHIKV and OROV being the most common arboviruses in Puerto Maldonado (Peru). Thus, it is crucial to include OROV detection in the national health surveillance. Furthermore, the etiologic clinical diagnosis of arboviral infections is not possible due to the low specificity of symptoms; therefore an increase of cases confirmed by molecular diagnostic methods will enhance arboviral surveillance in Peru.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Distribution of clinical symptoms in the AFI and infections caused by arboviruses DENV, OROV, ZIKV and CHIKV.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Scatter matrix and Pearson coefficient of correlation for the clinical symptoms.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Scatter matrix and Pearson coefficient of correlation for the odd-ratios of clinical symptoms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Forshey BM, Guevara C, Laguna-Torres VA, Cespedes M, Vargas J, Gianella A, et al. Arboviral etiologies of acute febrile illnesses in Western South America, 2000–2007. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2010;4(8): e787 doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000787 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mourão MP, Bastos Mde S, Figueiredo RM, Gimaque JB, Alves Vdo C, Saraiva Md, et al. Arboviral diseases in the Western Brazilian Amazon: a perspective and analysis from a tertiary health & research center in Manaus, State of Amazonas. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2015;48 Suppl 1:20–6. - PubMed
    1. Fischer M, Staples JE; Arboviral Diseases Branch, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC. Notes from the field: chikungunya virus spreads in the Americas—Caribbean and South America, 2013–2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014;63(22):500–1. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lorenzi OD, Gregory CJ, Santiago LM Acosta H, Galarza IE, Saint Luke's Acute Febrile Illness Investigation Team, et al. Acute febrile illness surveillance in a tertiary hospital emergency department: comparison of influenza and dengue virus infections. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2013; 88:472–480. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.12-0373 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Iroh Tam PY, Obaro SK, Storch G. Challenges in the Etiology and Diagnosis of Acute Febrile Illness in Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2016;5(2):190–205. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piw016 - DOI - PMC - PubMed