Arthralgia (persistent pain or stiffness of the joints) is a common symptom of chikungunya virus infection which can persist for many months following the disease. This condition is associated with significant disability and reduced quality of life. In order to manage individual clinical expectations and long term burden on the population following a chikungunya virus infection epidemic, it is critical to know the expected duration of the post infection arthralgia.
In this publication, we focus on:
- a background to chikungunya virus and its symptoms including arthralgia
- a literature review of published cohort studies which have tracked the symptoms of chikungunya virus over time after infection with the virus
- using simple statistical models to estimate the average arthralgia resolution rate