Introduction:

The Chikungunya virus is an alphavirus transmitted by infected mosquitoes of the Aedes genus, causing fever, joint inflammation, and systemic symptoms.

Objectives:

To investigate the impact of Chikungunya virus infection on Sjögren's syndrome activity assessed using the ESSDAI (EULAR Sjögren's Syndrome Disease Activity Index) and to identify the ESSDAI domain most affected by viral infection.

Materials and methods:

This was an observational, retrospective, cross-sectional study that included patients with primary Sjögren's disease (according to ACR/EULAR 2016 criteria) aged 18 years and older who contracted Chikungunya virus infection between January 2023 and January 2025. ESSDAI scores were recorded before and after infection.

Results:

Thirty-four patients with primary Sjögren's disease were included. Of these, 31 (91.2%) were female and 3 (8.8%) were male. Eleven of these patients (32.4% of the total cohort) were infected with Chikungunya. The mean age at diagnosis of Chikungunya infection was 48.78 ± 14.76 years. The results of the nonparametric analysis revealed a statistically significant increase in disease activity after Chikungunya infection, both in the ESSDAI total score and in the glandular, articular, and constitutional domains.

Conclusion:

The results demonstrate that Chikungunya infection is associated with a significant increase in disease activity in patients with Sjögren's disease in the ESSDAI total score and in the glandular, articular, and constitutional domains.

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