ABSTRACT
The first case of Chikungunya virus in Honduras was identified in 2014. The virus has spread widely across Honduras via the Aedes aegypti mosquito, leading to an outbreak of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in 2015 that significantly impacted children. A retrospective chart review of 235 children diagnosed with CHIKV and admitted to the National Autonomous University of Honduras Hospital Escuela (Hospital Escuela) in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, was accomplished with patients who were assessed for clinical features and neurologic complications. Of 235 children admitted to Hospital Escuela with CHIKV, the majority had symptoms of fever, generalized erythematous rash, and irritability. Fourteen percent had clinical arthritis. Ten percent of patients had seizures. Six percent had meningoencephalitis. There were 2 childhood deaths during the course of this study, one from meningoencephalitis and another from myocarditis. Chikungunya virus can cause severe complications in children, the majority of which impact the central nervous system.
Subject(s)
Chikungunya Fever/complications , Chikungunya Fever/epidemiology , Chikungunya virus/pathogenicity , Child, Hospitalized/statistics & numerical data , Nervous System Diseases/etiology , Adolescent , Age Distribution , Anti-Inflammatory Agents/therapeutic use , Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use , Chikungunya Fever/cerebrospinal fluid , Chikungunya Fever/drug therapy , Chikungunya virus/genetics , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Genes, Viral/genetics , Honduras/epidemiology , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Nervous System Diseases/diagnosis , Nervous System Diseases/virology , Neurologic Examination , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
Convulsive status epilepticus (SE) in children is an important public health problem, particularly in low-resource countries. A surveillance study was performed with consecutive enrollment of all children presenting with convulsive SE to Hospital Escuela Materno-Infantil Emergency Department in Tegucigalpa, Honduras over a 13-week period in 2003. In the 47 children with SE, the mean age was 4.5 years and the median seizure duration was 95 min. Mortality and morbidity were higher in children from rural locations, with all six deaths and three cases of new neurologic abnormalities occurring in rural children who had acute symptomatic SE. We conclude that childhood SE is common in the low-resource developing country of Honduras. Given the long delays in obtaining initial treatment in pediatric emergency facilities, availability of prehospital treatment may be of particular importance in this setting.
