Pharmacy's role in providing services, advice and treatment
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PHARMACY’S ROLE IN PROVIDING SERVICES, ADVICE AND TREATMENT
Pharmacy can play an important role in advising travellers about vaccination options, delivering a vaccination service, providing advice to those returning from travel and making appropriate treatment recommendations when returning travellers become unwell.
DELIVERING A PHARMACY TRAVEL VACCINATION SERVICE
Setting up a travel vaccination service requires planning, adherence to clinical and legal frameworks, training, appropriate operational systems and ongoing governance.
Using resources and following advice from the National Pharmacy Association, UK Health Security Agency and other pharmacy healthcare bodies can help you build a safe, compliant and effective service.
Administering a biological medicinal product such as Vimkunya® also involves clearly recording the name, batch number and expiry date of the administered product to improve its traceability.23
Appropriate medical treatment used to manage immediate allergic reactions must be immediately available in the event of an acute anaphylactic reaction occurring following administration of Vimkunya®.23
As with all injectable vaccines, anxiety-related reactions, including vasovagal reactions (syncope), hyperventilation or stress-related reactions, may occur in association with vaccination as a psychogenic response to the needle injection. Precautions should be in place to avoid injury from fainting.23
PLEASE REFER TO SMPCs FOR VIMKUNYA® AND IXCHIQ® PRIOR TO PRESCRIBING.
PROVIDING ADVICE AFTER TRAVEL
Advise travellers that a fever (38°C or more) or other worrying symptoms after their return are prompts to seek urgent medical help.21 They should disclose to their doctor or other healthcare professional all the countries they have travelled to.21
Those with febrile illness and polyarthralgia, especially after returning from CHIKV-endemic areas, may need diagnostics to confirm CHIKV infection to guide appropriate management and inform disease control strategies.4
ADVISING ON TREATMENT
There is no specific antiviral treatment for chikungunya.1,6 Drinking plenty of fluids and getting rest is recommended, alongside clinical management with antipyretic and analgesic medication to alleviate fever and joint pain associated with the disease.1
Paracetamol is the drug of choice until dengue, which may present with similar symptoms to chikungunya, has been ruled out.1
While chikungunya, dengue and Zika may present with similar symptoms, these differentiating symptoms that may be useful for diagnosis:
CHIKUNGUNYA14
Sudden onset of fever
Persistent, severe musculoskeletal symptoms
DENGUE28
Mild bleeding (mucosal bleeding, petechiae (blood spots), bruising)
Thrombocytopenia
ZIKA29
Transient low-grade fever
Non-purulent conjunctivitis
Chikungunya, dengue, zika and other travel-related infections cannot be reliably distinguished on symptoms alone. This information is intended to support recognition and referral and should not be used to make or confirm a diagnosis.
A returning traveller with fever or other symptoms compatible with a mosquito-borne infection should be referred promptly for medical assessment and should provide a full travel history.
Until dengue has been excluded by an appropriately qualified healthcare professional, aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be avoided because of the potential increased risk of bleeding.1
REFERENCES
1. World Health Organization. Chikungunya Fact sheet. 2025.
Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/chikungunya
2. World Health Organization. Disease Outbreak News: Chikungunya virus disease – Global situation. 2025.
Available at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2025-DON581
3. National Travel Health Network and Centre. Chikungunya. 2025.
Available at: https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/pdfs/generate/factsheets.php?new=27
4. Bartholomeeusen K, et al. Chikungunya fever. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 9(1): 17. doi:10.1038/s41572-023-00429-2.
5. Burt FJ, et al. Chikungunya virus: an update on the biology and pathogenesis of this emerging pathogen. Lancet. 2017; 17:e107–117.
6. UK Health Security Agency. Guidance: Chikungunya. 2025. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/chikungunya
7. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Chikungunya virus disease worldwide overview. Nov, 2025.
Available at: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/chikungunya-monthly
8. Silva LA and Dermody TS. Chikungunya virus: epidemiology, replication, disease mechanisms, and prospective intervention strategies.
J Clin Invest. 2017; 127:737–749.
9. Weaver SC and Lecuit M. Chikungunya virus and the global spread of a mosquito-borne disease. N Engl J Med. 2015; 372:1231–1239.
10. Andrew A, et al. Diagnostic accuracy of serological tests for the diagnosis of Chikungunya virus infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022; 16(2): e0010152. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010152
11. Freppel W, et al. Pathogenicity and virulence of chikungunya virus. Virulence. 2024; 15(1): 2396484.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21505594.2024.2396484.
12. Zurbia-Flores, et al. Chikungunya virus: priority pathogen or passing trend? Vaccines. 2023; 11:568.
https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11030568.
13. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC Yellow Book: Health Information for International Travel. Chikungunya. 2026.
Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/yellow-book/hcp/travel-associated-infections-diseases/chikungunya.html
14. Simon F, et al. Chikungunya: risks for travellers. J Travel Med. 2023; 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taad008
15. Auerswald H, et al. Broad and long-lasting immune protection against various Chikungunya genotypes demonstrated by participants in a cross-sectional study in a Cambodian rural community. Emerg. Microbes Infect. 2018; 7:13. DOI 10.1038/s41426-017-0010-0.
16. Doran C, et al. Long-term Chikungunya sequelae and quality of life 2.5 years post-acute disease in a prospective cohort in Curaçao. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022; 16(3):e0010142. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010142
17. Marimoutou, C et al. Chikungunya infection: self-reported rheumatic morbidity and impaired quality of life persist 6 years later. Clin Microbiol Infec. 2015; 21:688-6932
18. Economopoulou A, et al. Atypical Chikungunya virus infections: clinical manifestations, mortality and risk factors for severe disease during the 2005–2006 outbreak on Réunion. Epidemiol. Infect. 2009; 137: 534-541.
19. Torres JR, et al. Congenital and perinatal complications of chikungunya fever: a Latin American experience. Int J Infect Dis. 2016; 51:85-88.
20. National Centre for Emerging and Zoonotic Infections Diseases. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting. Clinical guidance for use of virus-like particle chikungunya vaccine in pregnant and breastfeeding women. April, 2025.
Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/acip/downloads/slides-2025-04-15-16/05-Hills-chikungunya-508.pdf
21. National Travel Health Network and Centre. Insect and tick bite avoidance. 2024.
Available at: https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/factsheet/38/insect-and-tick-bite-avoidance
22. Department of Health & Social Care. Independent report: Chikungunya vaccine in UK travellers: JCVI advice. 2025.
Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chikungunya-vaccine-for-uk-travellers-jcvi-advice-16-july-2025/chikungunya-vaccine-in-uk-travellers-jcvi-advice
23. Vimkunya 40 microgram/dose suspension for injection. SmPC. 2025.
Available at: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/100819/smpc
24. IXCHIQ 1 vial/1 pack Powder and solvent for solution for injection. SmPC. 2026.
Available at: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/100652/smpc
25. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chikungunya Vaccines. 2025.
Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/chikungunya/vaccines/index.html
26. Gov.uk. 2026. MHRA introduces additional restrictions for use of the Chikungunya vaccine (IXCHIQ).
Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-introduces-additional-restrictions-for-use-of-the-chikungunya-vaccine-ixchiq
27. Gov.uk. 2026. IXCHIQ Chikungunya vaccine: updates to restrictions of use following safety review. 2026.
Available at:https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/ixchiq-chikungunya-vaccine-updates-to-restrictions-of-use-following-safety-review#advicefor-healthcare-professionals-to-provide-to-patients
28. Furuya-Kanamori L, et al. Co-distribution and co-infection of chikungunya and dengue viruses. BMC Infect Dis. 2016; 16:84.
DOI 10.1186/s12879-016-1417-2.
29. Song B-H, et al. Zika virus: History, epidemiology, transmission, and clinical presentation. J Neuroimmunol. 2017; 308:50–64
Online sources last accessed September 2026.
Content developed by Bavarian Nordic UK working with CIG Healthcare Partnership.
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UK-VIM-2600013 | September 2026