Management of chikungunya arthritis

Chikungunya fever (CHIKF) is an emerging viral infection that has spread widely, along with its Aedes vectors, throughout the tropics and beyond, causing explosive epidemics of both acute illness and persistent disabling arthritis. There is an urgent need to mitigate the devastating impact of this illness, through vector control, personal protection, and possibly vaccine development. There is also a need to improve treatment for both acute illness and chronic arthritis. In this review, we will review the emergence of CHIK, what is known about pathogenesis and clinical manifestations, and then focus on current understanding of how to treat individual patients, in particular, those who develop chronic arthritis.