Chikungunya viral arthropathy: a clinical description.

Previous reports have indicated that infection with chikungunya virus produces an acute arthritis in human hosts. This paper reports for the first time a clinical description of the acute and chronic phases of the arthritis occurring in 20 patients who contracted chikungunya fever. In all cases the acute arthritis was severe and incapacitating and, in most of these patients, joint pains, stiffness and swelling persisted for at least 4 months (in 2 cases for 16 months). Acute phase reactants and serum complement levels were compatible with an infective response during the acute phase of the disease, but some abnormalities in these laboratory parameters were still evident several months later.