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LAS VEGAS – When rheumatologists consider a differential diagnosis that includes seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, they should also consider chikungunya, according to Len Calabrese, DO.
The patient who presents with weeks to months of unexplained arthralgia and perhaps arthritis and a negative autoimmune panel deserves consideration of chikungunya or another arbovirus, said Dr. Calabrese, speaking at the annual Perspectives in Rheumatic Diseases held by the Global Academy for Medical Education.
Among the mosquito-borne arboviruses now in play in the Western Hemisphere, chikungunya is particularly likely to cause long-lasting and sometimes debilitating joint pain weeks and even months after initial infection.
An alphavirus, chikungunya virus makes most affected individuals quite ill, and serum IgG and IgM titers persist long after infection. Testing is straightforward, as long as the virus is a candidate diagnosis, Dr. Calabrese said.
In addition to obtaining an accurate travel history, said Dr. Calabrese, physicians should consider the possibility of autochthonous transmission, which occurs when an infected individual who returns from an endemic area is bitten by mosquitoes once home. Flares of autochthonous transmission can result in pockets of locally heavy transmission far from the zones where chikungunya usually resides.
Dr. Calabrese is chair of clinical immunology and chair of osteopathic research and education at the Cleveland Clinic, and he reported no relevant financial disclosures.
Global Academy for Medical Education and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.
The video associated with this article is no longer available on this site. Please view all of our videos on the MDedge YouTube channel
On Twitter @karioakes
LAS VEGAS – When rheumatologists consider a differential diagnosis that includes seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, they should also consider chikungunya, according to Len Calabrese, DO.
The patient who presents with weeks to months of unexplained arthralgia and perhaps arthritis and a negative autoimmune panel deserves consideration of chikungunya or another arbovirus, said Dr. Calabrese, speaking at the annual Perspectives in Rheumatic Diseases held by the Global Academy for Medical Education.
Among the mosquito-borne arboviruses now in play in the Western Hemisphere, chikungunya is particularly likely to cause long-lasting and sometimes debilitating joint pain weeks and even months after initial infection.
An alphavirus, chikungunya virus makes most affected individuals quite ill, and serum IgG and IgM titers persist long after infection. Testing is straightforward, as long as the virus is a candidate diagnosis, Dr. Calabrese said.
In addition to obtaining an accurate travel history, said Dr. Calabrese, physicians should consider the possibility of autochthonous transmission, which occurs when an infected individual who returns from an endemic area is bitten by mosquitoes once home. Flares of autochthonous transmission can result in pockets of locally heavy transmission far from the zones where chikungunya usually resides.
Dr. Calabrese is chair of clinical immunology and chair of osteopathic research and education at the Cleveland Clinic, and he reported no relevant financial disclosures.
Global Academy for Medical Education and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.
The video associated with this article is no longer available on this site. Please view all of our videos on the MDedge YouTube channel
On Twitter @karioakes
LAS VEGAS – When rheumatologists consider a differential diagnosis that includes seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, they should also consider chikungunya, according to Len Calabrese, DO.
The patient who presents with weeks to months of unexplained arthralgia and perhaps arthritis and a negative autoimmune panel deserves consideration of chikungunya or another arbovirus, said Dr. Calabrese, speaking at the annual Perspectives in Rheumatic Diseases held by the Global Academy for Medical Education.
Among the mosquito-borne arboviruses now in play in the Western Hemisphere, chikungunya is particularly likely to cause long-lasting and sometimes debilitating joint pain weeks and even months after initial infection.
An alphavirus, chikungunya virus makes most affected individuals quite ill, and serum IgG and IgM titers persist long after infection. Testing is straightforward, as long as the virus is a candidate diagnosis, Dr. Calabrese said.
In addition to obtaining an accurate travel history, said Dr. Calabrese, physicians should consider the possibility of autochthonous transmission, which occurs when an infected individual who returns from an endemic area is bitten by mosquitoes once home. Flares of autochthonous transmission can result in pockets of locally heavy transmission far from the zones where chikungunya usually resides.
Dr. Calabrese is chair of clinical immunology and chair of osteopathic research and education at the Cleveland Clinic, and he reported no relevant financial disclosures.
Global Academy for Medical Education and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.
The video associated with this article is no longer available on this site. Please view all of our videos on the MDedge YouTube channel
On Twitter @karioakes
EXPERT ANALYSIS FROM ANNUAL PERSPECTIVES IN RHEUMATIC DISEASES
