PREVALENCE OF DENGUE VIRUS INFECTION IN THE POST MONSOON PERIOD

Background: Dengue Virus (DV) is an emerging mosquito borne viral disease and important public health problem in Lahore.

Methods: This study was designed to estimate sero-prevalence of dengue virus infection in the post monsoon period (Jun-Nov) of 2021 in Pakistani patients with fever visiting Services Hospital, Lahore. Serum samples were collected from 280 patients visiting hospitals with history of fever & clinically suspected dengue fever. The sero-prevalence of dengue virus specific IgM was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: The anti-dengue IgM positivity was found to be 8.2%. The positive dengue cases were higher in male (10.5%) as compared to female (6.5%). Among different age groups, the highest positive cases (11.5 %) were from age group below 15 years followed by above 50 years age group with 8.5%. Out of 4 hospitals, the highest positive cases were in Services Hospital, Jinnah Hospital(23.8%) followed by Mayo Hospital, Ganga Raam Hospital (12.5%). Age and gender were found to be independent predictors. The highest numbers of dengue positive cases were in occupation group business (13.3%) followed by agriculture (11.5%).

Conclusion: The dengue positivity was estimated in acute patients from different hospitals of   Pakistan by enzyme immunoassay and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Therefore, the serological marker can be used to diagnose the acute patients of dengue during outbreaks.