Neha Kaushik
EPI 610 Final Paper
Prevalence of Chikungunya in the Emerging World
Background
Chikungunya, is an infectious disease that is starting to emerge in the United States. I am more specifically focusing on the Aedes aegypti vector that transmits this virus in humans. It is quite similar to malaria in its transmission process. This disease manifests as severe joint and muscle pain, joint swelling, fever, among other symptoms. The epidemiologic triad applies to this disease as the mosquito infects the host via indirect transmission via the A. aegypti mosquito. These outbreaks are mostly seen in Asia, Europe, and the Americas; however, the CDC has predicted that this disease will eventually spread to southern US. It is misdiagnosed as dengue fever in many of the cases causing many them going undiagnosed. In this year alone, around 290 cases have been diagnosed in 36 states in the United States.
The first publication on Chikungunya was in 1967 by Drs. Shah and Giltro. The duo ran a laboratory study on the transmission of the virus by the vector. Chikungunya used to be a rare virus in …show more content…
The case control study was done in Malaysia to assess the risk factors in relation to cross border activities. They had 129 suspected cases and 176 controls. Among the suspected cases, 54.4 % were diagnosed with CHIKV. Among the control group, 30.1% of the participants were found to be positive to serology for antibodies. Those who were positive to IgG were excluded as they were testing for IgM antibodies to CHIKV. Central/East African CHIKV genotype is a causative virus. The study showed that reducing exposure to the sick patient during the viraemic phases was among the ways to avoid further transmission especially during the outbreak period. According to this study, cross border activity was not a significant factor although Thailand and Malaysia shared the same CHIKV genotype during the infection episode (Yusoff,
EPI 610 Final Paper
Prevalence of Chikungunya in the Emerging World
Background
Chikungunya, is an infectious disease that is starting to emerge in the United States. I am more specifically focusing on the Aedes aegypti vector that transmits this virus in humans. It is quite similar to malaria in its transmission process. This disease manifests as severe joint and muscle pain, joint swelling, fever, among other symptoms. The epidemiologic triad applies to this disease as the mosquito infects the host via indirect transmission via the A. aegypti mosquito. These outbreaks are mostly seen in Asia, Europe, and the Americas; however, the CDC has predicted that this disease will eventually spread to southern US. It is misdiagnosed as dengue fever in many of the cases causing many them going undiagnosed. In this year alone, around 290 cases have been diagnosed in 36 states in the United States.
The first publication on Chikungunya was in 1967 by Drs. Shah and Giltro. The duo ran a laboratory study on the transmission of the virus by the vector. Chikungunya used to be a rare virus in …show more content…
The case control study was done in Malaysia to assess the risk factors in relation to cross border activities. They had 129 suspected cases and 176 controls. Among the suspected cases, 54.4 % were diagnosed with CHIKV. Among the control group, 30.1% of the participants were found to be positive to serology for antibodies. Those who were positive to IgG were excluded as they were testing for IgM antibodies to CHIKV. Central/East African CHIKV genotype is a causative virus. The study showed that reducing exposure to the sick patient during the viraemic phases was among the ways to avoid further transmission especially during the outbreak period. According to this study, cross border activity was not a significant factor although Thailand and Malaysia shared the same CHIKV genotype during the infection episode (Yusoff,