chikungunya and dengue

The chikungunya epidemic in the USVI has passed and no new cases have been reported since January. I personally know about a dozen people who contracted it and know of many more through friends but the worst is over and done with. The odds of contracting it now are about the same as contracting dengue which has been around for decades.

As far as the arthritic symptoms are concerned, they're prevalent in the senior sector and I personally know three who are still suffering from the symptoms six months and more after contracting the virus. The younger you are the quicker it passes. It's really not something to worry about at this point and a Deet-containing repellent keeps the mossies away and protects you from both viruses.

I believe the Department of Health will be announcing some interesting work they will be beginning very soon to better answer some of these important questions. In terms of St John, I think there were about 38 suspected cases and 10 confirmed cases last year. This year there has only been a couple of cases reported. You can contact the Department of Health directly for more information.

Chikungunya was a large epidemic that spread throughout the Territory, Caribbean, and parts of South America. Those epidemics typically die out once a large number of people are infected because you can only become infected once. Consequently, we can likely expect a lot less cases this coming year and subsequent years. Dengue has more frequent epidemics because there are four different viruses. In most dengue areas, where it poses a large problem, you see periodic epidemics every 3-5 years. These are less frequent in areas with smaller populations but pose a big problem in large tropical cities, found in South America and Southeast Asia. If chikungunya stays in the Western Hemisphere, and Caribbean, the periodicity is likely much longer than 3-5 years. In the Indian Ocean, chikungunya swept through the area about 9 years ago and many places it has still not resurfaced.

i know a few people that have had both-neither of which are pleasant. some cases are worse than others .

we are having a very dry spell on stx, so not too many mosquitoes, not that i am seeing.

I've had dengue twice but the first was worse then the second time. I know a few folks who have had chik. It wasn't pleasant, but they lived.

I've had dengue twice over the course of the decades I've lived here.
Neither time was fun and I know why they call it "break bone" fever.

Dodged the chikungunya but knew many folks that didn't. Those older were more severely affected and had after effects for months.
It was harder to shake off the older the person. Spray up!

I had non confirmed Dengue earlier this year. Was about 2 really miserable days followed by about 7 days of less intense symptoms. Deet will be your best friend.

Dengue normally lasts longer. If you only had it for a week, it either wasn't dengue or you lucked out.

I had continuous joint soreness for about a month. Dr. Flowers at the urgent care said rash I had after main symptoms looked like Dengue rash. 2 days of crazy fever/headache/ body aches. A whole week of just bad joint pain, then soreness, like arthritis I suppose.

Yep. I got a rash at the end on the palms of my hands and bottoms of my feet. Weird. Had it for almost a month tho.