Chikungunya laboratory findings

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Laboratory Findings

Common laboratory tests for chikungunya include RT-PCR, virus isolation, and serological tests.

• Virus isolation provides the most definitive diagnosis, but takes one to two weeks for completion and must be carried out in biosafety level 3 laboratories. The technique involves exposing specific cell lines to samples from whole blood and identifying chikungunya virus-specific responses.

• RT-PCR using nested primer pairs is used to amplify several chikungunya-specific genes from whole blood. Results can be determined in one to two days.

• Serological diagnosis requires a larger amount of blood than the other methods, and uses an ELISA assay to measure chikungunya-specific IgM levels. Results require two to three days, and false positives can occur with infection via other related viruses, such as o'nyong'nyong virus and Semliki Forest virus.