Pediatr Emerg Med J.  2024 Jul;11(3):142-146. 10.22470/pemj.2024.00997.

The first adolescent case infected with chikungunya virus in South Korea

• Hwang EJ
• Baek JY
• Lee JY
• Kang JM
• Ahn JG

• KMID: 2557053
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.22470/pemj.2024.00997

Abstract

Chikungunya fever, a viral illness transmitted to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes, presents with symptoms such as high fever, severe myalgia, headache, arthralgia, rash, and vomiting. This disease predominantly manifests in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, with a limited occurrence in Northeast Asia. To date, no such a documented case has been reported in South Korea. Herein, we present the first adolescent case of chikungunya fever in South Korea following a travel to Bali, Indonesia.

Keyword

Chikungunya virus; Child; Exanthema; Korea; Travel

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1. Age group distribution of cases of chikungunya fever in South Korea, from January 2000 through February 2024. This current case belongs to the age group of 0-18 years (open bar).

• 

  Fig. 2. The changes in the 14-year-old boy’s values regarding WBCs, platelets (A), AST/ALT, CRP (B), and BUN/creatinine (C). On day 1, WBCs were 5,150/mm3 (neutrophils, 75.8%; lymphocytes, 9.4%; and monocytes, 10.7%); platelets, 137,000/mm3; AST/ALT, 81/152 IU/L; CRP, 39.4 mg/L (reference value, 0-8 mg/L); procalcitonin, 0.39 ng/mL (not shown [reference value, 0-0.5 ng/mL]); and BUN/creatinine, 13.0/1.04 mg/dL. On day 2, WBCs were 3,340/mm3 (neutrophils, 53.3%; lymphocytes, 32.0%; and monocytes, 13.5%); platelets, 136,000/mm3; AST/ALT, 55/111 IU/L; CRP, 11.0 mg/L; and BUN/creatinine, 10.2/0.91 mg/dL. On day 10, WBCs were 6,310/mm3 (neutrophils, 54.0%; lymphocytes, 31.9%; and monocytes, 11.1%); platelets, 269,000/mm3; AST/ALT, 26/64 IU/L; CRP, 0.9 mg/L; and BUN/creatinine, 11.5/0.79 mg/dL. WBC: white blood cell, AST: aspartate aminotransferase, ALT: alanine aminotransferase, CRP: C-reactive protein, BUN: blood urea nitrogen.

Reference

References

1. Jang HS, Chung JH, Kim J, Han SA, Yun NR, Kim DM. Chikungunya virus infection after traveling to Surinam, South America. Korean J Med. 2016; 90:262–5. Korean.

2. Bartholomeeusen K, Daniel M, LaBeaud DA, Gasque P, Peeling RW, Stephenson KE, et al. Chikungunya fever. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2023; 9:17.

3. Hwang JH, Lee CS. The first imported case infected with chikungunya virus in Korea. Infect Chemother. 2015; 47:55–9.

4. Weaver SC, Lecuit M. Chikungunya virus and the global spread of a mosquito-borne disease. N Engl J Med. 2015; 372:1231–9.

5. Cho SH, Cho EH. Current status of Chikungunya virus in foreign countries. Public Health Wkly Rep. 2015; 8:173–6. Korean.

6. Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency. All reported infectious diseases [Internet]. Cheongju (Korea): Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency; c2021 [cited 2024 Feb 29]. Available from: https://dportal.kdca.go.kr/pot/is/summary.do. Korean.

7. Vairo F, Haider N, Kock R, Ntoumi F, Ippolito G, Zumla A. Chikungunya: epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, management, and prevention. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2019; 33:1003–25.

8. Kuhn JH, Crozier I. Arthropod-borne and rodent-borne virus infections. In : Loscalzo J, Fauci AS, Kasper DL, Hauser SL, Longo DL, Jameson JL, editors. Harrison’s principles of internal medicine. 21st ed. New York: McGraw-Hill;2022. p. 1633.