Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)
Academic Term
Summer 2015
Document Type
Project
Course Number
NURS 5330
Course Name
Advanced Pathophysiology
Professor’s Name
John D. Chovan and James R. Cacchillo
Keywords
Public Health, Infectious Diseases, Chikungunya Virus
Subject Categories
Medical Pathology | Medicine and Health Sciences | Nursing | Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms | Virus Diseases
Abstract
Chikungunya fever is a viral infection caused by the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Although seldom fatal, CHIKV causes high fevers, polyarthralgia, and rash. The mosquito-borne virus has spread rapidly in the last ten years, causing over three million cases of CHIKV worldwide (Powers, 2015). The recent outbreak initiated in Africa and the islands of the Indian Ocean in 2004 has quickly spread to Asia, Europe and the Americas (CDC, 2015). According to the CDC (2015), until 2014, cases in the United States had only been linked to foreign travel outside of the Americas. As the outbreak has grown, cases of local transmission in Florida and Puerto Rico have necessitated increased education for healthcare clinicians in prevention, detection and treatment of CHIKV (Kendrick, Stanek, & Blackmore, 2014). There is currently no antiviral treatment CHIKV or vaccine to prevent CHIKV (Weaver, Osorio, Livengood, Chen, & Stinchcomb, 2012).
Recommended Citation
Shaw, Abigail, "Chikungunya Virus: More Than a Mosquito Bite" (2015). Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN). 67.
https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/stu_msn/67
Included in
Medical Pathology Commons, Nursing Commons, Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Commons, Virus Diseases Commons