Serological Evidence of Zika virus Circulation with Dengue and Chikungunya Infections in Sri Lanka from 2017

Harshi Abeygoonawardena; Namal Wijesinghe; Varuna Navaratne; Aindralal Balasuriya; Thi Thanh Ngan Nguyen; Meng Ling Moi; Aruna Dharshan De Silva

doi:10.4103/jgid.jgid_195_22

Serological Evidence of Zika virus Circulation with Dengue and Chikungunya Infections in Sri Lanka from 2017

J Glob Infect Dis. 2023 Aug 30;15(3):113-120. doi: 10.4103/jgid.jgid_195_22. eCollection 2023 Jul-Sep.

Authors

Harshi Abeygoonawardena¹, Namal Wijesinghe¹, Varuna Navaratne², Aindralal Balasuriya², Thi Thanh Ngan Nguyen³, Meng Ling Moi^{3

4}, Aruna Dharshan De Silva²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Sciences, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka.
² Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka.
³ Department of Virology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
⁴ Department of Developmental Medical Sciences, School of International Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

Introduction: Arbovirus diseases remain a public health threat in Sri Lanka. Dengue is endemic and two outbreaks of chikungunya infections have been reported. There is limited data on Zika virus (ZIKV) infections in Sri Lanka, and this could be due to a lack of comprehensive ZIKV surveillance. Our aim was to determine the presence of antibodies to dengue, chikungunya, and Zika infections in adults from a suburban population in Sri Lanka.

Methods: A total of 149 healthy adult volunteers over 18 years of age (mean age: 43±14 years, males - 43%), with no prior diagnosed arboviral infections and no history of overseas travel, participated in the study. ELISA and neutralization assays were carried out to detect past dengue, chikungunya, or Zika infections.

Results: A total of 94.6% (141/149) of the participants demonstrated dengue IgG antibodies, 37.5% (56/149) were positive for chikungunya IgG, and 5.3% (8/149) were positive for anti-ZIKV IgG antibodies. Neutralization assays confirmed ZIKV-specific antibodies in 6.7% (10/149), when 40/149 of the participating population were tested.

Conclusion: This clearly demonstrated past ZIKV infections in this population. In addition, this study indicates that >90% of individuals had asymptomatic dengue but no serious symptoms. These results provide a cross-sectional view on the DENV, ZIKV, and CHIKV epidemic status and demonstrate a need for the implementation of enhanced surveillance and more effective measures against the spread of these arbovirus diseases.

Keywords: Chikungunya; IgG; Zika; dengue; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; neutralization assays.