The incidence of chikungunya
infection in Singapore has been on the rise since the first reported case in 2006. Acute
polyarthritis, a common manifestation among affected patients, may precede
fever and present with debilitating
arthritis to rheumatologists, orthopaedists, internists and primary care physicians. The diagnosis of chikungunya
infection requires careful history taking and a high index of suspicion, with supporting evidence from the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or the chikungunya
IgM serology test. Treatment of chikungunya
arthritis usually involves non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Rarely,
polyarthritis in chikungunya may persist even after resolution of the acute
infection, necessitating treatment with disease-modifying
anti-rheumatic drugs. In this article, we present the different manifestations of chikungunya
arthritis in our local setting and review the literature.