[Coinfection of dengue and chikungunya viruses. Narrative review]

Dengue and chikungunya viruses are transmitted by the female Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, which are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas, facilitating coinfection.

To determine the magnitude, geographical distribution and clinical picture of dengue and chikungunya coinfection.

Narrative review. A search in the PubMed and Lilacs databases was made, using the MeSH terms "Chikungunya", "CHIKV", "DENV", "Dengue" and "coinfection. The articles of the last 20 years were included.

A total of 45 articles were included. The largest coinfection report was in Asia followed by Africa. In the Americas, the information is limited because of the recent circulation of chikungunya. The magnitude of coinfection varies between 0% and 31.9%. No differences were found in the distribution of coinfection by sex and age. The clinical picture of monoinfection and coinfection was similar. Some case reports show severe cases with central nervous system involvement, hemorrhagic manifestations and Still's disease.

The clinical manifestations of coinfection by dengue and chikungunya viruses are similar to those due to monoinfection, which difficult the diagnosis and measurement of its magnitude.