Chikungunya in paediatrics: Epidemic of 2005-2006 in Saint-Denis, Reunion Island

During the southern-hemispheric 2005-2006 summer, Reunion Island was struck by an epidemic of Chikungunya (Chik), which affected more than a third of the overall population. Objectives. Our objective was to describe pediatric cases of Chick. Material and methods. We conducted a retrospective descriptive monocentric study of confirmed pediatric cases of Chik recruited at Saint-Denis' departemental hospital during the peak of the epidemic (January 1st to April 30th 2006). Results. Eighty-six children aged 10 days to 18 years were included. In addition to the typical clinical presentation, we observed other phenotypes. Well-known complicated forms with neurologic, cardiac, gastro-intestinal (Plus dehydration) involvement were thoroughly investigated using modern medical technology. We observed 2 fatal cases of acute disease in 9-year-old children: death resulted front a central nervous system insult in one case, and multisystemic neurological, cardiac, haemorrhagic involvement in another. Severe acute presentations requiring hospital admission involved mainly children aged less than 6 months, and those with cardiac, skin and neurologic impairment. The study identified 3 cases of epidermolysis bullosa, which to our knowledge, have never been described previously. Conclusion. Chik in children warrants further research in order to propose early and appropriate treatments to avoid complications. (C) 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.