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. 2017 Nov 11;4(4):ofx247.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofx247. eCollection 2017 Fall.

Poverty and Arbovirus Outbreaks: When Chikungunya Virus Hits More Precarious Populations Than Dengue Virus in French Guiana

Timothée Bonifay  1   2 , Maylis Douine  2   3 , Clémence Bonnefoy  4   5 , Benoit Hurpeau  6 , Mathieu Nacher  4   3 , Félix Djossou  1   3 , Loïc Epelboin  1   3
Affiliations

Poverty and Arbovirus Outbreaks: When Chikungunya Virus Hits More Precarious Populations Than Dengue Virus in French Guiana

Timothée Bonifay et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Since 2013, 3 successive arbovirus outbreaks, dengue (DENV), chikungunya (CHIKV), and Zika virus, have occurred in French Guiana (FG). The primary objective of this study was to describe the socioeconomic indicators of the first patients infected with CHIKV during the outbreak of 2014. The secondary objective was to compare those patients with patient infected by DENV and with the local population.

Methods: A monocentric, retrospective, case-control study was conducted in Cayenne hospital in FG comparing a group of patients infected with CHIKV in 2014 with a group infected with DENV in 2013. Children aged less than 15 years and pregnant women were excluded.

Results: A total of 168 CHIKV patients were compared with 168 DENV patients. Factors associated with CHIKV were living in poor neighborhoods (82% vs 44%; odds ratio [OR], 5.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.35-10.2), having a precarious status (54% vs 33%; OR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.49-3.78), and being born abroad (70% vs 35%; OR, 4.35; 95% CI, 2.69-7.06).

Conclusions: The present results suggest that early in the epidemic, the populations most at risk for CHIKV infection were the most socially vulnerable populations in the poorest neighborhoods, whereas DENV appeared to have affected a richer population and richer areas.

Keywords: French Guiana; chikungunya; dengue; poverty; precarity.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow diagram of the study.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Map of the island of Cayenne showing the distribution of the first 168 cases of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and dengue virus (DENV) according to the socioeconomic level of the districts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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