Chikungunya Virus Outbreak, Dominica, 2014

Autor: Karen Polson-Edwards, Trudy Christian, Shalauddin Ahmed, Babatunde Olowokure, Lorraine Francis, R. Paul Ricketts
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol 21, Iss 5, Pp 909-911 (2015)
Emerging Infectious Diseases
ISSN: 1080-6059
1080-6040
Popis: To the Editor: Chikungunya is a dengue-like mosquitoborne viral disease that has caused outbreaks in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands (1). St. Martin reported the first documented occurrence of autochthonous transmission of chikungunya in the Caribbean islands in December 2013 (2). Dominica reported its first case on January 17, 2014 (3). This report describes the outbreak of chikungunya in Dominica through July 12, 2014. Cases were characterized by using guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Pan American Health Organization (4). Surveillance of chikungunya cases began on January 16, 2014, and data were collected on patients’ age, sex, residence, date of illness onset, clinical features, and travel history. The virus was detected at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) laboratory in Trinidad by using a real-time PCR (rPCR) developed by CDC; some testing was also done at CDC’s Arboviral Diseases Branch in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, by using an IgM ELISA and a plaque-reduction neutralization test, as appropriate. All suspected infections were laboratory confirmed through April 30, 2014, when community transmission was established. Thereafter, testing was done only for patients hospitalized >48 hours, women in their third trimester of pregnancy, patients who died, or patients thought to be infected and coming from geographic areas where chikungunya transmission was not yet established.. During December 15, 2013–July 12, 2014, a total of 3,559 chikungunya cases were reported in Dominica, of which 141 were confirmed by laboratory testing (134 [95%] by rPCR, 7 [5%] by serologic methods). The remaining 3,418 patients were considered infected (Figure), indicating an overall attack rate of 5% (on the basis of Dominica’s census population for 2011, 71,293). Retrospective investigation showed that the 2 index patients experienced onset of illness during the week beginning December 15, 2013, and 1 of the patients had recently traveled from St. Martin. The 2 patients were unrelated and resided far apart. Figure Confirmed and suspected chikungunya cases, by week of illness onset, Dominica, December 15, 2013–October 26, 2014. Of the 141 confirmed patients, 78 (55%) were female and 60 (43%) were male; data on sex was unavailable for 3 patients. Mean age of the patients was 34 years (range 13 days–87 years; median 30 years). Thirty (21%) of the patients were children
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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