Researchers have reported that chikungunya, a painful, mosquito-borne virus that's spreading fast throughout the Americas, can be more serious than thought. They have discovered that it can lead to a serious brain inflammation known as encephalitis far more often than reported previously.

The news has brought along a sad wave in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the infection’s rate is nearly a million people every year.

Study author Dr. Patrick Gérardin of Central University Hospital in Saint Pierre, Reunion Island, said, “Since there is no vaccine to prevent chikungunya and no medicine to treat it, people who travel to these areas should be aware of this infection and take steps to avoid mosquito bites, like wear repellent and long sleeves and pants if possible”.

Generally, chikungunya is not deadly, but can lead to bad headache, rash, fever and joint pain. In the Makonde language, spoken in Africa’s Tanzania and Mozambique,the name of the infection means ‘it bends up’,as patients are often get contorted with pain. As a result, they can have to be on bed rest for weeks, racked with pain.

On St. Martin in December 2013, the virus reached just in the Western Hemisphere, but soon spread rapidly as far north as Florida and throughout Central and South America.

According to the Pan American Health Organization, this year, over 600,000 cases have been reported so far, and 76 people have lost their lives.More than 1.1 million cases were reported in 2013 and 2014, and 194 people were killed by it.