Chikungunya: a reemerging infection spreading during 2010 dengue fever outbreak in National Capital Region of India.

Chikungunya fever is an important reemerging arbovirus illness, which is transmitted by the same vector as of dengue virus. Many cases of concurrent infections with multiple dengue virus serotypes have been reported in many countries. Also, concurrent infection with Chikungunya virus and dengue virus has been reported in the past in Delhi. Therefore, this study was done to detect Chikungunya IgM antibodies in suspected dengue fever patients. In this study, 1666 serum samples suspected of dengue fever and collected during the outbreak period (August 2010-December 2010) were tested for dengue IgM antibodies, of which 736 tested negative. Of the 736 dengue IgM negative sera, 666 were tested for Chikungunya IgM antibodies. The demographic profile and essential laboratory investigations were recorded. Chikungunya IgM was detected in 9.91 % of the patients. During the post-monsoon period though dengue dominated in numbers, the number of Chikungunya fever cases increased gradually followed by an abrupt decrease with the onset of winter. The Chikungunya IgM positive patients were suffering from fever of more than 5 days duration and had thrombocytopenia. Due to similarity in clinical features and vector transmitting dengue and Chikungunya virus, continuous surveillance of both dengue fever and Chikungunya fever is desirable for better management and epidemiological assessment.