Objective: To understand the demands caused by chikungunya in the chronic phase and their impacts on patients’ mental health and quality of life. Materials and methods: This is a qualitative study, performed from November 2019 to January 2020. Focus groups and deep interviews were carried out. Then, the Discourse Analysis was performed. Results: Chronic pain was the main clinical manifestation reported by the participants, being responsible for affecting aspects related to quality of life and mental health. As for psycological view, this study showed that chronic pain was also reported as one of the main symptoms related to anxiety and depression among research subjects. Conclusion: this study demonstrated how the chronic illness caused by Chikungunya impacted the subjects' perception in the domains related to quality of life and mental health. Furthermore, we seek to focus on the management of disease in a holistic way, putting the patients’ own awareness of the impacts of the disease on their lives in a relevant level of their treatment.

Chikungunya (CHIK) is a re-emerging viral infection endemic in tropical and subtropical areas. While the typical clinical presentation is an acute febrile syndrome, long-term articular complications and even death can occur. This review characterizes the global epidemiological and economic burden of chikungunya. The search included studies published from 2007 to 2022 in MEDLINE, Embase, LILACS, and SciELO for a thorough evaluation of the literature. Rayyan software was used for data analysis, and data were summarized descriptively and reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Seventy-six publications were included. Chikungunya is widely distributed in the tropics, including Africa, Asia, South America, and Oceania/the Pacific Islands, and co-circulates with other simultaneous arboviruses such as DENV, ZIKV, and YFV. Chikungunya infection can lead to chronic articular manifestations with a significant impact on the quality of life in the long term. In addition, it generates absenteeism and economic and social losses and can cause fatal infections in vulnerable populations, mainly in high-risk patients with co-morbidities and at the extremes of age. Reported costs associated with CHIKV diseases are substantial and vary by region, age group, and public/private delivery of healthcare services. The chikungunya disease burden includes chronicity, severe infections, increased hospitalization risks, and associated mortality. The disease can impact the economy in several spheres, significantly affecting the health system and national economies. Understanding and measuring the full impact of this re-emerging disease is essential.

Background Chikungunya is associated with high morbidity and the natural history of symptomatic infection has been divided into three phases (acute, post-acute, and chronic) according to the duration of musculoskeletal symptoms. Although this classification has been designed to help guide therapeutic decisions, it does not encompass the complexity of the clinical expression of the disease and does not assist in the evaluation of the prognosis of severity nor chronic disease. Thus, the current challenge is to identify and diagnose musculoskeletal disorders and to provide the optimal treatment in order to prevent perpetuation or progression to a potentially destructive disease course. Methods The study is the first product of the Clinical and Applied Research Network in Chikungunya (REPLICK). This is a prospective, outpatient department-based, multicenter cohort study in Brazil. Four work packages were defined: i. Clinical research; ii) Translational Science – comprising immunology and virology streams; iii) Epidemiology and Economics; iv) Therapeutic Response and clinical trials design. Scheduled appointments on days 21 (D21) ± 7 after enrollment, D90 ± 15, D120 ± 30, D180 ± 30; D360 ± 30; D720 ± 60, and D1080 ± 60 days. On these visits a panel of blood tests are collected in addition to the clinical report forms to obtain data on socio-demographic, medical history, physical examination and questionnaires devoted to the evaluation of musculoskeletal manifestations and overall health are performed. Participants are asked to consent for their specimens to be maintained in a biobank. Aliquots of blood, serum, saliva, PAXgene, and when clinically indicated to be examined, synovial fluid, are stored at -80° C. The study protocol was submitted and approved to the National IRB and local IRB at each study site. Discussion Standardized and harmonized patient cohorts are needed to provide better estimates of chronic arthralgia development, the clinical spectra of acute and chronic disease and investigation of associated risk factors. This study is the largest evaluation of the long-term sequelae of individuals infected with CHIKV in the Brazilian population focusing on musculoskeletal manifestations, mental health, quality of life, and chronic pain. This information will both define disease burden and costs associated with CHIKV infection, and better inform therapeutic guidelines.