EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF DENGUE VIRUS INFECTION IN HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS

Abstract

An Arboviral infection, Dengue Fever (DF), which has emerged as its two severe forms including Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) and Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) is found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. It has shown a massive global increase in frequency of epidemics along with an increase in disease incidence over the past three decades predominantly in urban and peri-urban settings. This study was conducted to assess the sero-epidemiology of dengue viral infection among the clinically suspected patients admitted in two medical facilities such as Enam Medical College (EMC) and Savar Upazila Health Complex (UHC)) in Savar, Dhaka during January to December 2019. Blood samples were collected from total 449 suspected patients and separated sera were tested for NS1 dengue antigen, anti-dengue IgM, and IgG antibodies using commercially available diagnostic test kits. Out of 449 patients 329 (73.27%) were serologically positive for dengue specific antigen and antibodies. Among them, 136 (60.7%) from EMC and 166 (73.8%) patients from UHC were found positive for Dengue NS1 Antigen. Total 28 were positive for anti-dengue IgM and IgG antibodies test and among them only 2 patients showed recent infection. IgM positive dengue patients were 5.8% in EMC and 6.7% in UHC. The percentage of IgG positive dengue patients from both hospitals were similar and it was 5.8%. This study represents the presence of Dengue virus in Savar Upazila of Dhaka district and corresponds one of the few studies to evaluate the seroprevalence of Dengue virus in Bangladesh. A substantial percentage of suspected patients in this study was negative by dengue tests suggesting other infections of similar clinical presentations that are becoming prevalent in the study area.