Abstract:
Fever is a frequently occurring medical symptom and may result from many
divergent conditions ranging from mild to potentially serious. Children typically get
high and fast – occurring fevers, reflecting the effects of the pyrogens upon an
inexperienced immune system. Symptoms and signs of Chikungunya virus
infections are quite similar to those of malaria and typhoid fever. Malaria and
typhoid investigations are routinely carried out to establish the cause of pyrexia of
unknown origin and treatment follows with complete neglect of Chikungunya virus
infections. Thus, Chikungunya virus fever cases can sometimes be misdiagnosed or
occur simultaneously with malaria, typhoid fever or both. This study was
conducted to determine the concurrent infections of malaria and/or typhoid fever
with Chikungunya virus, among febrile children aged 1 – 12 years seeking
treatment in Alupe Sub County Hospital, Busia,Kenya. Blood smears were prepared
for detection of malarial parasites and serum sample for widal testto detect typhoid
fever. Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay and Plaque Reduction Neutralisation
Test were performed to detect the Chikungunya virus antibodies. The median
age/interquartile range age for the febrile children was 4.5 years and 55.5% were
female. Concurrent infections of Chikungunya virus with malaria or typhoid were
9.6% and 7%, respectively, using the Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay
technique and 10.5% and 9.9%, respectively, using Plaque Reduction
Neutralisation Test. This supports the recommendation that Chikungunya virus
should be tested for using both serological and molecular diagnostics in cases of
patients presenting with fever.
