SERO-PREVALENCE OF DENGUE AND CHIKUNGUNYA COINFECTION WITH SEASONAL VARIATIONS IN TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL, AJMER, RAJASTHAN

Background- Dengue  and chikungunya fever are vector borne arboviral diseases that have been circulating globally  in the various  tropical and sub tropical regions. India being an endemic country for  dengue  and chikungunya, every or alternative year. Circulation of  both the viruses along with presence of common mosquito vector (Aedes aegypti and  albopictus) Aims and objectives: To study seroprevalance of dengue and chikungunya  co-infection ,early diagnosis and  their seasonal trends . Materials and methods -This was a prospective laboratory based study conducted at JLN Medical College and associated group of Hospitals, Ajmer  from March 2018  to October 2019 . Clinically suspected patients of dengue and/or chikungunya from all the outpatient and inpatient departments were enrolled as cases.Serum samples were tested for the IgM antibodies of dengue and chikungunya both by ELISA method. Results -Out of  965 samples ,156(16.16%)  found  only dengue antibodies,88(9.11%)  only chikungunya antibodies  and  83(8.6%)  both  antibodies . If the co-infection concluded than the total number  of  dengue and chikungunya positive  were  239(24.76%) and 171(17.72%) respectively . Majority of the patients belonged to the age group of   21-30 years, followed  by  31-40 years with preponderance of  males over females. Maximum number of patients were reported in post monsoon. Conclusion- As the clinical features of dengue  and chikungunya virus infections are mostly similar, so it is advisable to test for both viruses . Fever and headache were the universal symptoms observed in Dengue, Chikungunya  and  co-infection . Present study shows that occurrence of dengue, chikungunya and their co-infection were more in post-monsoon season, middle age group and in males than females,so  vector control ,personal protective measures and  early diagnosis  is very important to reduce mortality rate .