The serotype-specific early detection of dengue fever is very effective in predicting the pervasiveness of fatal infections such as dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) or dengue shock syndrome (DSS). This fever results from reinfection (secondary) with a serotype of the dengue virus, which is different from the serotype involved in primary infection. Hence, the present work was aimed to develop a multiplexed electrochemical paper-based analytical device (ePAD) consisting of graphene oxide-silicon dioxide (GO-SiO2) nanocomposites to detect the specific type of dengue virus (DENV). The conducting nature of GO-SiO2-coated multiplexed platform provided amplification in the signal response of the genosensor. The present sensor detected the target DNA of the four serotypes of the dengue virus, namely, DENV 1, DENV 2, DENV 3, and DENV 4, in a wide detection range of 100 pM to 100 μM. The sensor showed a high degree of specificity toward specific serotypes of DENV. Further, the use of such paper-based sensor had many advantages such as facile preparation, homogeneous distribution of nanoparticles onto the surface, requirement of a small quantity of sample, and low cost. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the fabrication of a genosensor for predicting the pervasiveness of the dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome.
Keywords: dengue; dengue hemorrhagic fever; dengue virus; microfluidic paper analytic device; multiplexed GO-SiO2 genosensor.