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CHIKUNGUNYA IN TRAVELLERS RETURNING TO CANADA

ACCORDING TO DATA REGARDING ILL-RETURNED CANADIAN TRAVELLERS PRESENTING TO A CanTravNet SITE BETWEEN 2006 AND 201521

During the study period, 22,387 ill travellers and immigrants presented to a CanTravelNet site between 2006 and 2015. Of those, 118 (0.5%) received a diagnosis of chikungunya.21

Of the travellers diagnosed with chikungunya returning to Canada, the following factors were observed:21

  • Most well-represented type of travel

    • Tourism: 41.5%
    • Visiting friends and relatives: 30.5%
    Most well-represented type of travel

  • Source destination

    • Caribbean: 54.2%
    • South Central Asia: 15.3%
    • Haiti: 18.6%
    • India: 12.7%
    • Jamaica: 12.7%
    Source destination

  • Trip duration

    • Median: 14 days
    • Trip of ≤2 weeks: 51.7%
    • Trip of ≤1 week: 21.2%
    Trip duration
    Over half of travellers returning to Canada with chikungunya were infected after only a short-term trip of less than 2 weeks.21
    It is critical for healthcare professionals to be aware of chikungunya and its burden on infected patients. Given that chikungunya can lead to chronic articular manifestations with a significant impact on a patient’s quality of life (QoL) in the long term, understanding and measuring the full impact of this disease is essential.22
    LONG-TERM IMPACT