Chikungunya arthritis - should we expect it to become more common in Portuguese rheumatology?

Abstract

Chikungunya virus is known to cause acute disease characterized by fever, rash, myalgias, conjunctivitis and arthritis, having potential to cause chronic musculoskeletal disease, namely persistent arthritis. The area of spread of the virus in the world has been increasing and the migratory flows make the occurrence of Chikungunya induced chronic arthritis more and more scattered. Data regarding the experience of Portuguese rheumatology centres in identifying and treating chronic ChikV induced arthritis are not available. The authors describe the diagnosis and treatment aspects of three cases of "imported" Chikungunya induced chronic arthritis, briefly discuss its approach in the light of current knowledge and alert to the possibility this situation may become more prevalent in the Portuguese rheumatology setting.