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Genetic characterization of Chikungunya virus 2009 isolates from South India.

TL;DR: The structural analysis of the wild type and mutant proteins revealed that the structural changes are accompanied by modification in the intraprotein interactions.
Abstract: Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV) is a single stranded positive sense enveloped RNA virus. Re-emergence of CHIKV caused a massive outbreak with severe clinical manifestation affecting multiple organs. The genetic diversity of CHIKV, which caused recurring outbreaks in India, was studied. Blood samples were collected from suspected human cases of CHIKV infection in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and three Northern districts of Kerala in Southern India during the CHIKV outbreak in 2009. A partial E2 gene segment was amplified by RT-PCR. Among 119 samples 37 samples were positive for CHIKV by RT-PCR. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolated sequences belonged to Indian Ocean Lineage (IOL) of ECSA genotype. The mutational analysis revealed the presence of substitutions such as S299N, T312M, A344T, S375T, V386G, W339R and S375P in the current study. In addition, a novel mutation V386G was observed in all the sequences. Two isolates found with unique substitutions W339R and S375P are reported. The structural analysis of the wild type and mutant proteins revealed that the structural changes are accompanied by modification in the intraprotein interactions.

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TL;DR: Chikungunya fever (CHIKF) is an arbovirus disease caused by chikunguna virus (CHV), an alphavirus of Togaviridae family.
Abstract: Chikungunya fever (CHIKF) is an arbovirus disease caused by chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an alphavirus of Togaviridae family. Transmission follows a human-mosquito-human cycle starting with a mosquito bite. Subsequently, symptoms develop after 2-6 days of incubation, including high fever and severe arthralgia. The disease is self-limiting and usually resolve within two weeks. However, chronic disease can last up to several years with persistent polyarthralgia. Overlapping symptoms and common vector with dengue and malaria present many challenges for the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. CHIKF was reported in India in 1963 for the first time. After a period of quiescence lasting up to 32 years, CHIKV re-emerged in India in 2005. Currently, every part of the country has become endemic for the disease with outbreaks resulting in huge economic and productivity losses. Several mutations have been identified in circulating strains of the virus resulting in better adaptations or increased fitness in the vector(s), effective transmission, and disease severity. CHIKV evolution has been a significant driver of epidemics in India, hence, the need to focus on proper surveillance, and implementation of prevention and control measures in the country. Presently, there are no licensed vaccines or antivirals available; however, India has initiated several efforts in this direction including traditional medicines. In this review, we present the current status of CHIKF in India.

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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2013-Ágora

1 citations

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