Chikungunya fever typically begins with symptoms appearing 2-4 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. These symptoms include:
- Rapid onset of joint pains: Severe, migratory, and polyarticular arthritis, often debilitating.
- Muscle pain.
- High-grade fever.
- Conjunctivitis.
- Rash: Macular or maculopapular rash, usually occurring between the 2nd and 5th day of illness, most commonly found on the trunk and limbs.
- Some patients may experience conjunctivitis and minor bleeding in the skin and eye.
Joint pain results from the invasion of joint cartilage by the virus, leading to inflammation. While the infection is rarely life-threatening, it can cause significant morbidity, including prolonged fatigue lasting several weeks and joint pain persisting for months or years. Unlike dengue fever, chikungunya fever typically does not present with hemorrhagic symptoms.
Pregnant women infected with the chikungunya virus usually do not transmit the virus to the fetus, and their symptoms are similar to those in non-pregnant individuals.
In areas where both chikungunya and dengue infections occur, misdiagnosis is common. Other infections that may be mistaken for chikungunya fever include various viral hemorrhagic fevers or malaria. Diagnosis of chikungunya fever is based on serological testing, with indirect immunofluorescence being a newer method used for diagnosis.