Following chikungunya virus infection, chronic rheumatological symptoms are similar to those observed with rheumatoid arthritis. To further evaluate this, a comparison was made between the relevance of joint counts and symptoms between the two conditions.

In this publication, we focus on:

• A background to chikungunya virus and its various symptoms including chronic joint pain and inflammation
• A cross sectional study of 40 patients with chronic chikungunya arthralgia and 40 patients with rheumatoid arthritis in order to compare symptoms
• An assessment of the relevance of joint counts in both conditions and their relationship with disability