Ocular Manifestations of Emerging Arthropod-Borne Infectious Diseases

To review the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment modalities, and prognosis of arthropod-borne infectious diseases.

This is a narrative review on arthropod-borne infectious diseases including general and ophthalmological aspects of these infectious diseases. A comprehensive literature review between January 1983 and September 2020 was conducted in PubMed database. Epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of arthropod-borne infectious diseases were reviewed.

Emergent and resurgent arthropod-borne infectious diseases are major causes of systemic morbidity and death that are expanding worldwide. Among them, bacterial and viral agents including rickettsial disease, West Nile virus, Dengue fever, Chikungunya, Rift valley fever, and Zika virus have been associated with an array of ocular manifestations. These include anterior uveitis, retinitis, chorioretinitis, retinal vasculitis, and optic nerve involvement. Proper clinical diagnosis of any of these infectious diseases is primarily based on epidemiological data, history, systemic symptoms and signs, and the pattern of ocular involvement. The diagnosis is confirmed by laboratory tests. Ocular involvement usually has a self-limited course, but it can result in persistent visual impairment. Doxycycline is the treatment of choice for rickettsial disease. There is currently no proven specific treatment for arboviral diseases. Prevention remains the mainstay for arthropod vector and zoonotic disease control.

Emerging arthropod vector-borne diseases should be considered in the differential diagnosis of uveitis, especially in patient living or with recent travel to endemic countries. Early clinical diagnosis, while laboratory testing is pending, is essential for proper management to prevent systemic and ocular morbidity.