Introduction: Dengue is a serious public health problem in Colombia; it is prevalent in 90% of the municipalities in Quindío. Studies on its seroprevalence are required to address public health interventions.
Objective: To establish the seroprevalence of dengue infection in neighborhoods with high incidence in the municipalities of Armenia, Calarcá, La Tebaida and Montenegro, Quindío, in 2014.
Materials and methods: We conducted a probabilistic, stratified, two-stage prevalence study. We interviewed 658 residents in the urban area of the selected municipalities. After they signed the informed consent, we took a blood sample to determine dengue IgG and IgM antibodies.
Results: Seroprevalence of IgG in Quindío was 89,4%; in Armenia it was 88,7%, in Calarcá, 81,5%, in Montenegro, 91,8% and in La Tebaida 97,8%. IgM was 14, 2% in Quindío; in Armenia it was 11,5%, in Calarcá, 13,0%, in Montenegro, 13,1% and in La Tebaida, 28,9%.
Conclusions: We found a high prevalence of both IgG and IgM in the four municipalities. We had positive results for IgM in all age groups, which suggests recent infection. We also found simultaneous seropositivity for IgG and IgM (12.9%), which may indicate infection by another serotype or presence of infection in the past three months. A multisectoral approach is necessary for dengue control in Quindío.
Keywords: Dengue/epidemiology; immunoglobulin G; immunoglobulin M; prevalence; public health, Colombia.