Introduction: Dengue virus (DENV) causes a wide range of diseases in humans, from acute febrile illness Dengue fever (DF) to life-threatening Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) or Dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Factors believed to be responsible for spread of Dengue virus infection include explosive population growth, unplanned urban overpopulation with inadequate public health systems, poor standing water and vector control, climate changes and increased international recreational, business, military travel to endemic areas. All of these factors must be addressed to control the spread of Dengue and other mosquito-borne infections. The detection of Dengue virus RNA by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) in human serum or plasma samples is highly indicative of acute Dengue fever. Moreover, the method is able to identify the Dengue virus serotype by demonstrating defined sequence homologies in the viral genomic RNA.
Methods and results: During the nine year period of this study analysis, 6767 strongly suspected cases were tested by RT-PCR. 1685 (24.9%) were Dengue PCR positive and confirmed as Dengue cases. Observations on the seasonality were based on the nine year's data as the intensity of sampling was at its maximum during monsoon season. Dengue typing was done on 100 positive samples after storage of Dengue RNA at - 80°C. Dengue serotypes were detected in 69 samples of which Dengue 2 was most predominant. 576 samples were processed for NS1 antigen and PCR simultaneously. 19/576 were positive (3.3 %) for NS1 as well as by PCR. 23/576 samples were negative for NS1 antigen, but were positive by RT-PCR. The remaining 534 samples which were negative for NS1 antigen were also negative by Dengue RT-PCR.
Conclusion: In this study we sought to standardize rapid, sensitive, and specific fluorogenic probe-based RT-PCR assay to screen and serotype a representative range of Dengue viruses that are found in and around Mumbai. Qualitative Dengue virus TaqMan assays could have tremendous utility for the epidemiological investigation of Dengue illness and especially for the study of the viremic response with candidate live-attenuated dengue virus vaccines.
Keywords: Dengue; Mumbai; polymerase chain reaction.