Cutaneous manifestations in patients suspected of chikungunya disease

An epidemic of chikungunya disease occurred in India during late 2005 through 2006 affecting nearly 1,400,000 people.

To study the cutaneous manifestations in suspected cases of chikungunya disease.

Patients who attended our outpatient departments from January 2006 to September 2006 were prospectively included if they had symptoms of chikungunya disease according to the 'case definition' of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Directorate General of Health Services, Government of India. The criteria were an acute illness characterized by the sudden onset of fever and several symptoms such as joint pain, headache, backache, photophobia, and eruption during an epidemic of chikungunya fever in the absence of confirmatory serological tests.

A total of 115 patients (65 men and 50 women) who satisfied the above criteria were enrolled for the study.

An erythematous maculopapular rash subsiding without any sequelae in 3-4 days was the most common cutaneous finding in our patients. Genital ulcers distributed predominantly over the scrotum and base of the penile shaft in men and labia majora in women were the second most common manifestation. Other manifestations included tenderness/edema of hands and feet, grouped hyperpigmented macules over the nose and cheeks, fixed drug eruptions, erythema nodosum, erythema multiformae, generalized urticarial eruptions, and flare up of pre-existing psoriasis and lichen planus.

To conclude, a plethora of cutaneous manifestations were noted in suspected cases of chikungunya disease. Genital ulcers, to the best of our knowledge, have not been reported during the earlier epidemics but have been reported by others during the present one.