Woman Loses Vision After Mosquito Bite Transmits Chikungunya Fever

By: Laura Geggel Published: 08/10/2015 10:38 AM EDT on LiveScience A woman who caught chikungunya fever while vacationing in the Caribbean wound up losing some of the vision in her right eye permanently, according to a new report of her case. The findings suggest that vision problems may be an underreported effect of the mosquito-transmitted virus, which has spread in recent years from Africa and Asia to the Caribbean, Latin America and parts of the United States, the report's authors said. "Sight-threatening visual loss can be a late complication of infection with chikungunya," said Dr. Abhijit Mohite, who treated the woman and co-authored the report of her case. [7 Devastating Infectious Diseases] It is important that people with vision problems get treatment early, to prevent lasting vision loss, said Mohite, an ophthalmologist at the West Midlands Postgraduate Deanery and Queen's Hospital in the United Kingdom.  The virus Researchers first recognized chikungunya (chik-un-GUN-ya) in Tanzania in 1952. The name is based on an East African word that means "that which bends," because people infected with the virus are often bent over with muscle and joint pain. Other symptoms include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting and rash, according to the case report, which was published online July 28 in the journal BMJ Case Reports. In July 2014, a Florida man became the first person to get chikungunya in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventio...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news