Self‐reported morbidity of Barmah Forest virus infection on the north coast of New South Wales

The Medical Journal of AustraliaPublished 1 November 1997

John Beard, Marianne Trent, Valérie Delpech, Greg A Sam

DOI10.5694/j.1326-5377.1997.tb138872.x

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Citations11

SJR quartileQ1

SJR score1.51

SNIP1.48

TL;DR

The clinical features and disability associated with Barmah Forest virus (BFV) infection are described.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical features and disability associated with Barmah Forest virus (BFV) infection. DESIGN: Retrospective postal survey. SETTING: North Coast Public Health Unit, Lismore, New South Wales, January to October 1995. SUBJECTS: All 84 subjects notified by mandatory laboratory reporting as positive for BFV IgM by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. OUTCOME MEASURES: Demographic information, self-reported symptoms, disability and treatment. RESULTS: Response rate was 77%. Peak incidence was in the 30-50 years age group, with almost identical numbers of men and women affected. The most common symptoms were lethargy (89%), joint pain (82%) and rash (68%). These were also generally the first symptoms to appear. Thirty of 54 respondents (56%) reported time off work and 27 of 53 (51%) reported illness lasting more than six months. Those who had a rash were significantly more likely to have recovered by the time of the survey than those who had no rash (odds ratio, 10.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-76.6). No treatment led to more than slight relief of symptoms. CONCLUSION: Symptoms of BFV infection appear similar to those of the better-known Ross River virus infection, and clinicians should consider both in patients with symptoms of arboviral disease. The wide distribution and long duration of illness make BFV a potentially significant cause of morbidity in Australia. A possible association between the presence of a rash and improved prognosis needs further investigation.

Keywords

Agricultural and Biological SciencesMedicine

Immunology and Cell BiologyVIRUSES RECOVERED FROM MOSQUITOES AND WILDLIFE SERUM COLLECTED IN THE MURRAY VALLEY OF SOUTH‐EASTERN AUSTRALIA, FEBRUARY 1974, DURING AN EPIDEMIC OF ENCEPHALITIS

105 Citations1982I. D. Marshall, Gwendolyn M Woodroofe +1 more

Pools of mosquitoes collected in the Murray Valley in February, 1974, during an encephalitis epidemic yielded 239 isolates of 11 distinct viruses, which weaken the widely held hypothesis that during the pre-epidemic period MVE virus is introduced into theMurray Valley by viraemic waterbirds from distant areas of tropical enzooticity.

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77 Citations1995Robert J Condon, Ian Rouse

People infected with RRV in the South West of WA experience a slightly different spectrum of clinical symptoms, with a longer period of disability, which may be related to the presence of a different topotype of the virus to that found elsewhere in Australia.

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75 Citations1990Debra A Phillips, John R. Murray +2 more

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45 Citations1995M.D. Lindsay, Cheryl A. Johansen +3 more

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41 Citations1996Victoria Westley‐Wise, John Beard +3 more

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The Medical Journal of AustraliaIllness caused by a Barmah Forest‐like virus in New South Wales

40 Citations1988Clement R. Boughton, R. A. Hawkes +1 more

Three patients in whom Barmah Forest viral infection appears to have resulted in illness are reported, indicating that Barmahs Forest virus or a closely‐related alphavirus may, as are several otherAlphaviruses, be pathogenic.