Clinico-social Profile of Chikungunya Cases Reported in 2016 at a Tertiary Care Hospital in New Delhi

Background: Chikungunya epidemic is a public health problem in South-East Asian countries.There was an epidemic of chikungunyain the year 2016 in New Delhi. Therefore, this present study was planned to understand the epidemiological profile of Chikungunya cases attending fever clinic in a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi. Objective: To studyepidemiological and clinical profile of Chikungunya cases attending fever clinic in Safdarjung Hospital. Methods: A total of 200 patients with fever of up to 7days duration were enrolled at fever clinic of VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi from May 2016 to October 2016.Total number of 47874 fevercases were reported in fever clinic from May 2016 to October 2016. A preformed semi-structured, interviewer administeredquestionnairewas used for data collection. Serum specimens were screened for chikungunya infection by serology (IgM). Chikungunya infection was detected in 16.5% patients byanti- CHIKV IgM antibodies by ELISA. Results: Among these 200 suspected cases of chikungunya, fever (96.0%),joint pain (81.0%),Myalgia (77.5%) and lower backache (57.5%) were the major clinical features. Major joints involved were knee joint (45.5%), wrist (32.5%), hand (phalanges) (34.5%) and ankle joints (31.0%). Myalgia, rashes, joint pain and joint swelling was frequently observed among chikungunya confirmed cases (p<0.05). All group of ages, both gender and all class of socioeconomic scale were equally susceptible to chikungunya infection. Conclusion: Chikungunya virus had a wide spectrum of clinical features and all age groups, gender and socioeconomic status people were equally susceptible to Chikungunya infection.All acute febrile illness patients with joint pain shouldbe screened in the laboratory for both Chikungunya IgM antibodies. Predictability of chikungunya is more in presence of joint pain and swelling, myalgia and rashes. This study emphasizes the need for a continuous surveillance on the disease burden.