Q: I am a 29 years old female. I was affected with chikungunya four two months back, when I was in India. I still have pains in my joints. I got Ayurvedic medicines from India for two months. Sometimes, I take Allopathy medicines too for the intolerable pains. How long will joint pain continue?

A:In chikungunya virus infection, a sizeable number of patients suffer from intractable pain in joints and muscles for long time after recovery from infection. In my experience these pains are due to immune complexes. I have tried an immunomodulator in some patients and they showed remarkable improvement. (L-levamisole 150 mg at bed time for three consecutive days in a week followed by 4 days rest will help. The treatment may be repeated for several weeks. Generally the patients show remarkable improvement with three to four cycles of this treatment.)