Clinical Complications of Chikungunya Fever in Mauritius

Chikungunya fever; an emerging mosquito-borne viral disease; has affected Mauritius with two recent outbreaks in 2005 and 2006 respectively. A study was carried out in 2007 to describe the clinical complications post-Chikungunya infection. Ethical clearance was obtained for this study. Data collection was carried out in February and March 2007 on a sample of people who had suffered from Chikungunya fever by means of a comprehensive questionnaire. Participants comprised 77 people; there were 41 males and 36 females. Participants ranged from 6 to 69 years. 70 participants experienced persisting joint pains for at least 6 months following the acute phase. Of these; 35 had residual joint complaints after 6 months. 44 participants suffered from psychological sequelae. 10 participants had dermatological sequelae; 6 had iatrogenic complications due to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced gastritis; and 3 participants with serologically confirmed Chikungunya fever had neurological manifestations and changes on CT/MRI which could correspond to demyelination. Statistical analysis demonstrated that there was a weak linear relationship between the number of complications and increasing age; there was a significant difference in the number of complications according to gender; females being more affected than males; participants with co-morbidities had more complications and psychological sequelae than previously healthy participants. This study highlights that Chikungunya fever; which causes a significant impact on health in the acute phase; can have significant sequelae months afterwards and this includes psychological sequelae

An Analysis of the Excess Mortality Profile during the 2006 Chikungunya Fever Epidemic in Mauritius

The Island of Mauritius was affected by a large scale epidemic outbreak of Chikungunya Fever (CHIKF) from February to April 2006. It was observed that this epidemic was associated with an excess mortality during the months of March to May 2006 in Mauritius. This study was aimed to analyze the gender and age group distribution of the excess mortality. Population and mortality data were obtained from the Mauritius Central Statistics Office for the years 2000 to 2006. The excess monthly mortality was computed for 2006 and the distribution of excess mortality according to gender and age groups was analyzed. For both genders combined; the excess mortality was 91.5in the age group ? 50 years. For the ? 50-year age group; the total male excess death rate (EDR) exceeded the total female EDR by 66. Our results indicate that CHIKF is associated with an increased mortality particularly in the ? 50-year age group with males being more vulnerable than females to mortality. Although there have been reports of CHIKF related deaths in other studies; the profile of the excess mortality during a CHIKF outbreak has not been previously scribed