Encephalitis caused by Chikungunya virus in a traveler from the Kingdom of Tonga

Joanna Nelson; Jesse J Waggoner; Malaya K Sahoo; Philip M Grant; Benjamin A Pinsky

doi:10.1128/JCM.01288-14

Encephalitis caused by Chikungunya virus in a traveler from the Kingdom of Tonga

J Clin Microbiol. 2014 Sep;52(9):3459-61. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01288-14. Epub 2014 Jun 23.

Authors

Joanna Nelson¹, Jesse J Waggoner¹, Malaya K Sahoo², Philip M Grant¹, Benjamin A Pinsky³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
² Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
³ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA [email protected].

Abstract

Febrile travelers from countries with unique endemic pathogens pose a significant diagnostic challenge. In this report, we describe the case of a Tongan man presenting with fever, rash, and altered mental status. The diagnosis of Chikungunya encephalitis was made using a laboratory-developed real-time RT-PCR and serologic testing.

Publication types

Case Reports
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Chikungunya Fever / diagnosis*
Chikungunya virus / isolation & purification*
Encephalitis, Viral / diagnosis*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods
Tonga
Travel*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding