Purpose: To review the systemic and ocular manifestations of specific emergent viral infectious diseases relevant to the ophthalmologist with particular emphasis on anterior uveitis Methods: Review of literature. Results: Arboviral diseases are among the most important emergent and resurgent human infections, occurring mostly in tropical and subtropical zones, but appearing in virtually all regions of the world as a result of climate change, travel, and globalization. Arboviral infections are transmitted to humans by the bite of hematophagous arthropods, mainly mosquitoes. Systemic disease may range from asymptomatic to life-threatening. A wide variety of ocular manifestations, including uveitis, has been reported in association with these emerging viral diseases. Numerous viruses other than arboviruses also have been recently recognized as a potential cause of uveitis. Conclusions: Proper clinical diagnosis of any emerging infectious disease is based on epidemiological data, history, systemic symptoms and signs, and the pattern of ocular involvement. The diagnosis is usually confirmed by detection of virus-specific DNA or antivirus antibodies in serum.
1.Univ Monastir, Fac Med, Fattouma Bourguiba Univ Hosp, Dept Ophthalmol, Monastir, Tunisia 2.Narayana Nethralaya, Dept Uveitis & Ocular Immunol, Bangalore, Karnataka, India 3.Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz, Natl Inst Infect Dis, Res Lab Infect Dis, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 4.Calif Pacific Med Ctr, Dept Ophthalmol, San Francisco, CA USA 5.Stanford Univ, Sch Med, Dept Ophthalmol, Stanford, CA 94305 USA 6.UCSF Sch Med, Francis I Proctor Fdn, San Francisco, CA USA