Quantitative analysis of chikungunya virus with special emphasis on biosensors: A review

Chikungunya is a viral fever caused by a single stranded RNA virus of the genus alpha virus of the family Togaviridae and transmitted to human by the bite of Aedes Aegypti mosquito. The incubation time frame of this virus is short, enduring about 2- 4 days. Chikungunya virus disease is typically self-constrained, non-lethal, with fever settling inside a couple of days. A number of conventional methods such as ELISA, RT-PCR and PCR are available for determination of chikungunya virus. Besides the advantages of being highly sensitive and selective, these methods have some drawbacks like time-consuming, requirement of sample pre-treatment, high cost instrumental set-up and skilled persons to operate. The sensors/biosensors overcome these drawbacks, as these are fast, easy, cost effective and highly sensitive. During the past five decades, biosensors have consolidated their impact in several fields, including clinical diagnosis, due to advantages such as high selectivity and sensitivity, potential for miniaturization, portability, low cost and rapid response. The chikungunya sensors/biosensors reported so far, have worked ideally within 10s, at a working potential -0.6-10.4 V, at the optimum pH, 7.0 and optimum temperature 35°C and linear range, 0.1-100μM, with the detection limits between 0.1 to 3.4nM. These biosensors measure chikungunya virus 2 in DNA of serum and had maximum storage stability of 540 days. The future perspective for further improvement and commercialization of chikungunya biosensors are discussed.