Sally Furniss
Well-known member
Chikungunya virus infection in travellers to Australia
Douglas F Johnson, Julian D Druce, Scott Chapman, Ashwin Swaminathan, Josh Wolf, Jack S Richards, Tony Korman, Chris Birch and Michael J Richards
Chikungunya virus is a mosquito-borne alphavirus infection first described in Tanzania in 1952. The name Chikungunya means ?that which bends up? in the Makonde language of the Newala Province, Tanzania.
We report eight cases of Chikungunya virus infection in travellers to Australia between February 2006 and September 2007. As clinicians became aware of the Indian Ocean epidemic, unwell travellers returning from affected countries were tested for Chikungunya virus. Before this epidemic, only one case of Chikungunya virus infection had been reported in Australia; this involved importation of the virus from Indonesia to Darwin in 1989.1
The eight cases of Chikungunya virus infection were identified after reviewing the database of the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory between February 2006 and September 2007. The review was undertaken to raise awareness among medical practitioners of Chikungunya virus infection. Chikungunya virus was diagnosed by performing a generic alphavirus reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on serum.2 The diagnosis was confirmed in all eight patients by sequencing the alphavirus RNA product.
The treating clinicians of the eight patients were contacted. The medical records and investigations performed for each patient were analysed. Seven patients presented to tertiary referral hospitals in Melbourne. One patient presented to a local doctor in regional Victoria.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/188_01_070108/joh10777_fm.html
Douglas F Johnson, Julian D Druce, Scott Chapman, Ashwin Swaminathan, Josh Wolf, Jack S Richards, Tony Korman, Chris Birch and Michael J Richards
Chikungunya virus is a mosquito-borne alphavirus infection first described in Tanzania in 1952. The name Chikungunya means ?that which bends up? in the Makonde language of the Newala Province, Tanzania.
We report eight cases of Chikungunya virus infection in travellers to Australia between February 2006 and September 2007. As clinicians became aware of the Indian Ocean epidemic, unwell travellers returning from affected countries were tested for Chikungunya virus. Before this epidemic, only one case of Chikungunya virus infection had been reported in Australia; this involved importation of the virus from Indonesia to Darwin in 1989.1
The eight cases of Chikungunya virus infection were identified after reviewing the database of the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory between February 2006 and September 2007. The review was undertaken to raise awareness among medical practitioners of Chikungunya virus infection. Chikungunya virus was diagnosed by performing a generic alphavirus reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on serum.2 The diagnosis was confirmed in all eight patients by sequencing the alphavirus RNA product.
The treating clinicians of the eight patients were contacted. The medical records and investigations performed for each patient were analysed. Seven patients presented to tertiary referral hospitals in Melbourne. One patient presented to a local doctor in regional Victoria.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/188_01_070108/joh10777_fm.html