PLoS Medicine (May 2022)

Incidence of chikungunya virus infections among Kenyan children with neurological disease, 2014-2018: A cohort study.

  • Doris K Nyamwaya,
  • Mark Otiende,
  • Lilian Mwango,
  • Symon M Kariuki,
  • Berrick Otieno,
  • Donwilliams O Omuoyo,
  • George Githinji,
  • Barnes S Kitsao,
  • Henry K Karanja,
  • John N Gitonga,
  • Zaydah R de Laurent,
  • Alun Davies,
  • Salim Mwarumba,
  • Charles N Agoti,
  • Samuel M Thumbi,
  • Mainga M Hamaluba,
  • Charles R Newton,
  • Philip Bejon,
  • George M Warimwe

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003994
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 19, no. 5
p. e1003994

Abstract

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BackgroundNeurological complications due to chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection have been described in different parts of the world, with children being disproportionately affected. However, the burden of CHIKV-associated neurological disease in Africa is currently unknown and given the lack of diagnostic facilities in routine care it is possible that CHIKV is an unrecognized etiology among children with encephalitis or other neurological illness.Methods and findingsWe estimated the incidence of CHIKV infection among children hospitalized with neurological disease in Kilifi County, coastal Kenya. We used reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to systematically test for CHIKV in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from children aged ConclusionsIn this study, we observed that CHIKV infections are relatively more common than cerebral malaria and bacterial meningitis among children hospitalized with neurological disease in coastal Kenya. Given the wide distribution of CHIKV mosquito vectors, studies to determine the geographic extent of CHIKV-associated neurological disease in Africa are essential.