Chikungunya and Myositis: A Case Report in Brazil

Abstract

Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV) is a well-described alpha virus that causes infection in humans. The main symptoms are fever, rash and arthralgia and recently neurological disorders have been reported, in particular encephalitis. It is uncertain whether neurological symptoms are due to persistence of the virus or an ineffective immune response. One rarely described neurologic syndrome is myositis. In this paper, we report the case of a 19-year-old woman with mental confusion and aggressiveness two days after complaints of fever and arthralgia. On clinical evaluation, the patient had power 5/5 in the upper limbs and 3/5 in the lower limbs. Electromyography revealed the presence of myogenic potentials with reduced amplitudes and early recruitment predominantly in the proximal muscle. Two weeks later, she complained of muscle weakness of the lower limbs that started 15 days after acute Chikungunya infection. The patient improved within two months with only supportive care.

Keywords

• arthralgia
• fever
• muscle weakness
• neurological disorder