Circulating Dengue Serotypes in Central Delhi during 2015 Outbreak

Abstract

Dengue fever is caused by an arthropod borne dengue virus. Delhi has witnessed various outbreaks in the last two decades. All the four dengue serotypes are being reported to circulate during each outbreak with predominance of one or more. Each year the prevalent circulating serotype changes. This study was planned to identify the predominant circulating dengue serotype during 2015 Delhi outbreak. Material and Methods: Venous blood was collected from the 150 suspected adult patients attending the outdoor department of medicine. Dengue fever was diagnosed using NS-1 antigen ELISA and dengue serotypes were detected using conventional RT-PCR among 15 randomly selected NS-1 antigen positive sera. Result: Out of 150 suspected cases, 44 were positive for dengue NS-1 antigen. RT-PCR among 15 positive sera detected five DEN-1, three DEN-2 and seven DEN-3 serotypes. Conclusion: The prevalent circulating dengue serotype in central Delhi during 2015 outbreak was DEN-3 followed by DEN-1.