Introducción:

Chikungunya fever (CHIKF) is an emerging zoonotic disease that presents as an acute febrile illness (AFI), classically associated with arthralgia. Due to limitations regarding availability of diagnostic tests and health system access, cases may be underreported.

Objetivos:

The objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of CHIKV in the northern coast of Peru in order to measure its prevalence and describe its clinical manifestations.

Materiales y Métodos:

A 2-year cross-sectional study was performed in the Piura region, which is located in the northern coast of Peru and neighbors upon Ecuador and Colombia. Patients with AFI who visited primary care clinics were included. Serum plasma was collected in all participants, serology for chikungunya virus (CHIKV) was assessed, and molecular diagnosis was conducted with RT-PCR. The location of this study was also endemic for Dengue virus (DENV), thus IgM was also analyzed to evaluate coinfection.

Resultados:

A total of 688 samples was collected and 669 were analyzed. CHIKV was detected in 60 (8.89%) samples through serology. Only 5% of cases were identified with RT-PCR. CHIKV cases were most commonly reported among participants aged 18-29 years (30.0%) and the most common symptoms reported were headaches (68.0%), myalgias (54.4%), and arthralgias (50.8%). Coinfection with DENV (5.0%) was also reported among CHIKV samples.

Discusión / Conclusiones:

A significant prevalence of CHIKV and a considerable prevalence of CHIKV-DENV coinfection in the northern coast of Peru is reported. These results highlight the need for improved surveillance of CHIKV, as it is a continuously transmitted pathogen in various parts of Peru. As clinical symptoms may be unspecific, epidemiological surveillance should be strengthened using reliable diagnostic methods to accurately detect CHIKV.