Fatal cases of Chikungunya virus infection in Colombia: Diagnostic and treatment challenges

Although Chikungunya infection is emerging as an important public health problem in many countries, it is not regarded as a life-threatening disease. Information dealing with fatal cases is scarce. We herein describe three patients with Chickungunya infection who presented with multiple organ failure and died within 24 h of admission. Two cases had positive anti-dengue IgM, but dengue coinfection was rejected based on the clinical features and results of real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. These cases illustrate the challenges of the diagnosis and management of severe Chikungunya infection. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.