Subacute and chronic symptoms of chikungunya fever in a group of adults in Colombia

Introduction: In Colombia, chikungunya fever creates a warning in public health that extends over time given the subacute and chronic characteristics of the disease. Objective: To describe subacute and chronic symptoms in adult people who suffered chikungunya fever in the city of Ibagué, Colombia. Materials and methods: We conducted a descriptive study with snowball sampling in 368 adults from all the communes of Ibagué, Colombia, who had symptoms of chikungunya fever spanning for more than 12 days. Results: The joints that showed the greatest pain in the subacute and chronic phase of the disease were the hands with 84.2%, knees with 72.8%, and ankles with 69.3%. The soles of the feet were the non-articular areas with greater frequency of pain (48.8%). Joint pain in the hands (p=0.017) and ankles (p=0.001) and pain in the soles of the feet (p=0.002) were significant in women. General fatigue occurred in 58.9% of the subjects and in 2.4% of the population, it lasted for more than a year. Conclusions: The symptoms of the subacute and chronic phase of chikungunya fever were the same reported in the literature, they lasted up to a year or more, and decreased in intensity over time. The referred symptoms were more common in women than in men.