Chikungunya Infection in Hospitalized Febrile Infants Younger Than 3 Months of Age

BACKGROUND:Fever in infants younger than 3 months is generally a cause for concern because of the risk for a serious bacterial infection. The aim of this study was to describe clinical and biological features of Chikungunya infection in infants < 3 months of age hospitalized in Cayenne Hospital during the 2014-2015 outbreak. METHODS:We performed a preliminary retrospective study followed by a prospective study from March 2014 to February 2015. All infants younger than 3 months presenting with fever and hospitalized in Cayenne Hospital were included. The main diagnostic criteria were fever and positive Chikungunya PCR. RESULTS:One hundred and twenty infants were hospitalized with fever. The mean age was 46 days (SD± 22 days). The mean hospitalization duration was 7.4 days (SD± 6.1 days). Chikungunya infection was diagnosed in 26 children. The most important clinical findings were high (80.8% [77.5-84]) and prolonged fever (76.9%, [73.4-80.4]), irritability (96.2% [94.5-97.7]) and skin rash. (69.2%, [65.4-73]). Half of the infants presented edema of the extremities (hands and feet principally). However, in 15 %, Chikungunya infection was associated with a serious bacterial infection. Infants who presented with irritability, high fever and elevated PCT were at high risk for ChikungunyaOR 39, [9.2-243] (p < 0.001), with a specificity of 96.7 % and a negative predictive value of 89.4%. The area of the ROC curve was 0.96 CONCLUSIONS:Our results confirm that Chikunguyna infection is a cause of high fever in infants younger than 3 months. Our data should be confirmed by larger studies.