Utility of dengue antigen-capture ELISA in the diagnosis of dengue Fever in the real world

Background: Dengue fever is an endemic and potentially fatal viral infection threatening more than 2.5 million people in over 100 regions around the world - hence the need for timely and accurate diagnosis using an easy and affordable assay. Methods: In our study, the use of a commercial dengue antigen-capture ELISA (PLATELIA DENGUE NS1 AG by Bio-Rad) was evaluated to demonstrate its usefulness in diagnosing acute dengue viral infection in an acute tertiary centre in Singapore. Our country is endemic for dengue fever with more than 7000 cases reported in 2008. Retrospective analysis was performed on 197 patients in whom serum dengue antigen-capture ELISA was carried out. The diagnosis of dengue was made based on dengue IgM positivity and the presence of classic clinical features of dengue fever. Results: A total of 75 patients were identified to have dengue fever. The overall sensitivity of dengue antigen-capture ELISA was 64% (48/75). Sensitivity was 81.5% when testing was carried out on serum samples taken during Day 1 to 4 of fever, 59.4% during Day 5-6 and 42.9% during Day 7-8. In patients who did not have dengue fever, the specificity was 100%. Conclusion: The results suggest that the dengue antigen-capture ELISA is most useful in the diagnosis of dengue fever within the first 4 days of fever. Abstracts for SupplementInternational Journal of Infectious DiseasesVol. 14Preview Full-Text PDF Open Archive