A case of chikungunya virus disease presenting with remarkable acute arthritis of a previously damaged finger joint

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Walter de Araujo Eyer-Silva, Henrique de Barros Pinto Neto, Guilherme Almeida Rosa da Silva, Fernando Raphael de Almeida Ferry
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT)
• Subjects: Arthritis; Chikungunya; Trauma; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0204-2016; https://doaj.org/article/4f4ae19c577147118585c8c6d7f25d99

Abstract: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne arthritogenic alphavirus that has recently been introduced to Brazil. We report the case of a 36-year-old male patient from the City of Rio de Janeiro who developed molecularly-confirmed CHIKV disease and whose clinical picture was remarkable because of acute arthritis of an interphalangeal joint that had been damaged by trauma 8 years previously. This case illustrates that acute CHIKV disease may preferentially target previously damaged joints. Careful study of individual cases may provide valuable information on the presentation and management of this emerging zoonosis in Brazil.