An analysis of the excess mortality profile during the 2006 Chikungunya Fever epidemic in Mauritius

Abstract

The Island of Mauritius was affected by a large scale epidemic outbreak of Chikungunya Fever (CHIKF) from February to April 2006. It was observed that this epidemic was associated with an excess mortality during the months of March to May 2006 in Mauritius. This study was aimed to analyze the gender and age group distribution of the excess mortality. Population and mortality data were obtained from the Mauritius Central Statistics Office for the years 2000 to 2006. The excess monthly mortality was computed for 2006 and the distribution of excess mortality according to gender and age groups was analyzed. For both genders combined, the excess mortality was 91.5% in the age group ≥ 50 years. For the ≥ 50-year age group, the total male excess death rate (EDR) exceeded the total female EDR by 66%. Our results indicate that CHIKF is associated with an increased mortality particularly in the ≥ 50-year age group with males being more vulnerable than females to mortality. Although there have been reports of CHIKF related deaths in other studies, the profile of the excess mortality during a CHIKF outbreak has not been previously described.