Pre and postnatal exposure to Chikungunya virus does not affect child neurodevelopmental outcomes at two years of age.
Randall WaechterErinique IngrahamRoberta EvansNikita CudjoeAmy R KrystosikRashida IsaacAshlee WattsTrevor NoëlBarbara LandonMichelle FernandesVeronica Mapp-AlexanderPriyanka SureshGeorge MitchellCalum N L MacphersonPatrick GerardinA Desiree LaBeaudPublished in: PLoS neglected tropical diseases (2020)
Our findings suggest that children exposed and/or infected with CHIKV outside of the intrapartum period experience no significant neurodevelopmental delay at two years of age, as measured by the INTER-NDA, compared to their unexposed and/or uninfected peers. These results complement those of previous studies which showed a neurodevelopmental risk only for children infected during the intrapartum period, while the mother was highly viremic. These results might be reassuring for women of childbearing age and public health officials in CHIKV-endemic regions.