In 2022, Bruce Wale, from Victoria, British Columbia, traveled to San Jose, Mexico, as he had done many times before. But this time he came back with more than photos and a tan.

Wale contracted the mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus and suffered debilitating joint pain, among other symptoms, for the next three months.

“I was completely incapacitated for most of that time,” he said. “It even affected my breathing. So I was really on my back, lying on the couch or in the bed… three months of pure ‘not nice’,” he said.

Wale had never heard of this non-contagious virus, which presents symptoms similar to a severe flare-up of rheumatoid arthritis: fever, rash and joint pain. But climate change, noted by the World Health Organization as contributing to the spread of these vector-borne diseases, coupled with Canadians increasingly traveling to areas where the virus is endemic (China, India, Mexico, South America, Africa), increase the risk for travelers. could catch the virus.

There is now a Chikungunya vaccine, which Canada is only the second country to approve. The United States was first, while Europe is expected to finalize approval this month. As of November 14, the world’s first and only authorized Chikungunya vaccine – IXCHIQ – is available in pharmacies and travel clinics across British Columbia and Canada after gaining approval from Health Canada this summer.

The decision to get vaccinated depends largely on the individual’s level of risk tolerance, said Dr. Wayne Ghesquiere, a consultant in infectious diseases/tropical diseases and internal medicine, who is also a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia.

People over 18 should consider getting vaccinated, he said, especially older people who are more likely to get sick. Although the virus is rarely fatal, unless you have other impacting health conditions, it is “not an insignificant infection,” Ghesquière said.

“It’s also not uncommon for people in their 20s, 30s or 40s to get very sick. We’re talking fever, rash, but the biggest thing is arthralgia, in addition to in other words, joint pain,” he said. “Joints can become quite infected, quite inflamed, and it can last for months. And I emphasize the S at the end of that word. In some people it lasts for years.”

Wale, for example, continues to suffer from joint pain. Although he has since been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, he doubts Chikungunya will no longer affect him.

“I feel like Chikungunya still affects me,” he said.

When assessing the risks and whether or not to get vaccinated, it is important to take into account the planned vacation activities (hiking in the jungle or sunbathing on a hot beach) and the length of the vacation.

“Should you get vaccinated if you’re only going away for a week or two? Probably not necessarily. It depends on how risk-averse you are,” he said. “If you’re going to be there for months, you might want to think about this vaccine.”

The vaccine typically costs $225 in Victoria for one dose, which is all that is needed. And it’s a vaccine Wale wishes he had at his disposal.

“I highly recommend the vaccine. Because, you know, even though I’m now immune, three months of what I went through is not worth it,” he said.

The word “chikungunya” comes from an African language word Kimakonde meaning “to contort”, which refers to the suffering posture of patients.

Since 2004, Chikungunya outbreaks have become more frequent and widespread, in part due to viral adaptations and climate change, leading the WHO to emphasize that it is a major public health problem . In 2018, it was added to the WHO list of neglected tropical diseases requiring priority research and development.

Vector-borne diseases affect up to 700 million people each year. Common types of mosquito-borne diseases include malaria, dengue fever, West Nile virus, chikungunya, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and Zika.