Ophthalmic manifestations of arbovirus infections in adults.

INTRODUCTION AND

OBJECTIVES

Emerging arbovirus infections have classic symptoms such as fever, arthralgia, or rash. As some of them have ophthalmic symptoms/signs, the main objective is to evaluate whether these findings could help to clarify the clinical diagnosis.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

A descriptive and retrospective study was conducted, in which cases of adults who attended an evaluation in 2016. The general and ophthalmic symptoms were analysed on those meeting the definition of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya.

RESULTS

A total of 10,327 cases of arbovirosis were recorded, of which 5,388 (52.2%) were Dengue, 3,529 (34.1%) Zika, and 1,410 (13.6%) were Chikungunya. The main symptoms and signs of Dengue were: fever, headache/retro-orbital pain, arthralgia, rash, and nausea/vomiting. For Zika cases they were: exanthema, swollen glands, headache, arthralgia, and conjunctivitis, and for Chikungunya cases: rash, fever, arthritis, headache, and náusea/vomiting. The group with the most ophthalmic signs/symptoms was Zika, predominantly non-purulent conjunctivitis and retro-orbital pain, epiphora, episcleritis, anterior uveitis, as well as neurological syndromes such as isolated cranial nerve palsy (III and IV) or Miller Fisher syndrome.

CONCLUSIONS

Ophthalmic signs/symptoms of Zika infection can help the clinical diagnosis of these arbovirosis.