Chikungunya Seroprevalence among Patients Presenting with Febrile illnesses in selected health facilities in Mt. Elgon region, Kenya.

BackgroundChikungunya is an emerging epidemic-prone vector-borne disease of considerable significance globally. Infection with chikungunya virus induces an acute illness characterized by fever and painful arthralgia, which can evolve to chronic arthritis and rheumatism especially in elderly patients. Whereas febrile illness and arthralgia are common clinical presentations amongst residents of Mt. Elgon, the role of chikungunya virus as a causative agent is undocumented. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of IgA, IgM and IgG antibodies against Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV) antigens in patients presenting with acute febrile illnesses in Mt. Elgon region, Kenya. MethodsThis was a cross-sectional seroprevalence study on febrile patients visiting Endebes, Andersen and Kitale County Referal Hospitals. Sociodemographic data was collected whenever possible. Serum samples were collected and screened using Indirect ELISA for 1gG+IgM+IgA antibodies. Sera that tested positive by ELISA were subjected to standard plaque reduction neutralization assays (PRNT) performed on monolayer cultures of Vero E6 cells for confirmation. ResultsBy ELISA, a total of 317/1359 (23.33%) sera were positive for CHIKV antibodies. Of the 317 positive sera, 305 (96.21%) were of sufficient quantity and were subjected to PRNT. Ultimately, 127 (9.3%) samples tested positive for CHIKV neutralising antibodies by PRNT. ConclusionThese findings suggest active circulation of CHIKV in Mt. Elgon, even though it has previously been considered a non-endemic region for the virus. There is need to closely monitor and continuously put in place surveillance strategies to prevent probable potential outbreaks in the future.