Immunoglobulin-responsive chikungunya encephalitis: two case reports

Abstract

Chikungunya virus is an alphavirus transmitted by the mosquito Aedes, mainly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, that can cause acute illness, mostly self-limited, characterized by fever, maculopapular rash, and disabling polyarthritis/arthralgia, with an incubation period of 1 to 12 days. Chikungunya was largely regarded as a non-fatal and self-limited disease, but recently, serious cases have been reported including some with severe involvement of the nervous system, such as meningoencephalitis, myelitis, polyradiculitis, and polyradiculoneuropathy. In this report, we describe the clinical and laboratory findings of two patients with encephalitis associated with chikungunya in a northeastern city in Brazil, who exhibited a good outcome, with improvement after treatment with i.v. immunoglobulin (IVIg).