Positivity of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika infections in women in Northeast Brazil post-Zika epidemic

ABSTRACT

The state of Ceará, in the Northeast Region of Brazil, presents the simultaneous circulation of Zika (ZIKV), dengue (DENV) and chikungunya (CHIKV) viruses. In 2017 there were a high number of cases of these three arboviruses, especially CHIKV. Here, we detected the presence of arboviruses ZIKV, DENV and CHIKV and their coinfections in women in endemic regions of the city of Fortaleza, Ceará in a post-Zika epidemic year. Sociodemographic and environmental characteristics associated with arbovirus positivity were also analyzed. Women (n = 1289) between 15 and 39 years old were included. RT-qPCR was performed for virus detection and IgM antibody positivity was also analyzed. One hundred and six (8.3%) participants were positive for one or more arboviruses. Monoinfections (76; 5.9%) were distributed between 22 (1.7%) for ZIKV, 39 (3.1%) for DENV and 15 (1.2%) for CHIKV. Co-infections were detected in 30 (2.3%) of the positive participants and one case with triple infection was found. IgM positivity was found in 2.4% of ZIKV RT-qPCR, 9.6% of DENV and 16.3% of CHIKV. RT-qPCR positivity for arboviruses was associated with low socioeconomic class and presence of a water box sealing in the household. A higher positivity to the three viruses occurred in the month with the lowest wind velocity, which was also preceded by the highest peak of rain and humidity. We identified the simultaneous circulation and co-infection of ZIKV, DENV and CHIKV in Fortaleza in a post-Zika epidemic year. We also highlight the need for continuous epidemiological surveillance combined with molecular diagnostic tools.

KEYWORDS:

• Arboviruses
• Zika virus
• dengue virus
• chikungunya virus
• multiplex real-time RT-PCR
• molecular diagnosis

Acknowledgements

We thank all the participants of the study and the support of the staff of the basic health units, Fortaleza, CE Brazil.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was financed by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development-CNPq, Brazil, grant #440778/2016-6; Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personel-CAPES, Brazil, grant #8887.130.795/2016-00; Cearense Foundation to Support Scientific and Technological Development (FUNCAP), Ceará, Brazil, grant #3898920/2017; Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel-CAPES – Brazil, Finance Code 001.