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. 2020 Nov 24;20(1):881.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-020-05611-5.

Seroprevalence, spatial dispersion and factors associated with flavivirus and chikungunha infection in a risk area: a population-based seroprevalence study in Brazil

Francisca Kalline de Almeida Barreto  1 , Carlos Henrique Alencar  2   3 , Fernanda Montenegro de Carvalho Araújo  4   5 , Rhaquel de Morais Alves Barbosa Oliveira  2 , John Washington Cavalcante  3   6 , Daniele Rocha Queiroz Lemos  4 , Luís Arthur Brasil Gadelha Farias  7   8 , Isac Lucca Frota Boriz  2 , Leticia Queiroz Medeiros  2 , Marcelo Nunes Pereira Melo  4 , Fábio Miyajima  9 , André Machado Siqueira  10 , André Ricardo Ribas Freitas  11 , Luciano Pamplona de Góes Cavalcanti  2   3
Affiliations

Seroprevalence, spatial dispersion and factors associated with flavivirus and chikungunha infection in a risk area: a population-based seroprevalence study in Brazil

Francisca Kalline de Almeida Barreto et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: The State of Ceará, in Northeastern Brazil, suffers from a triple burden of arboviruses (dengue, Zika and chikungunya). We measured the seroprevalence of chikungunya, dengue and Zika and its associated factors in the population of Juazeiro do Norte, Southern Ceará State, Brazil.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of analytical and spatial analysis was performed to estimate the seroprevalence of dengue, Zika and chikungunya, in the year 2018. Participants were tested for IgM and IgG against these three viruses. Those with IgM and/or IgG positive tests results were considered positive. Poisson regression was used to analyze the factors associated with positive cases, in the same way that the spatial analysis of positive cases was performed to verify whether the cases were grouped.

Results: Of the 404 participants, 25.0% (103/404) were positive for CHIKV, 92.0% (373/404) for flavivirus (dengue or Zika) and of these, 37.9% (153/404) samples were classified as probable dengue infection. Of those who reported having had an arbovirus in the past, positive CHIKV cases had 58.7% arthralgia (PR = 4.31; 95% CI: 2.06-9.03; p = 0.000) mainly in the hands, ankles and feet. Age over 60 years had a positive association with cases of flavivirus (PR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.09-1.54; p = 0.000). Fever, muscle pain, joint pain and skin rash were the most reported symptoms (46.1, 41.0, 38.3 and 28.41%, respectively). The positive cases of chikungunya and dengue or Zika were grouped in space and the city center was most affected area.

Conclusions: Four years after the introduction of CHIKV, where DENV has been in circulation for over 30 years, 1/4 of the population has already been exposed, showing the extent of the epidemic. The measured prevalence was much higher than that reported by local epidemiological surveillance.

Keywords: Chikungunya virus; Dengue virus; Seroprevalence; Zika virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Location of the city of Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará, Brazil
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Kernel density (a) and seroprevalence (b) of chikungunya-positive (1) and flavivirus-positive (2) cases from the seroepidemiological survey in the City of Juazeiro do Norte, Brazil, 2018
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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