Evidences support that dengue virus can impart broad‐spectrum immunity against betacoronaviruses in dengue endemic regions

Abstract

COVID‐19 tended to be less aggressive in dengue endemic regions. Conversely, dengue cases plummeted in dengue endemic zones during the active years of the pandemic (2020–2021). We and others have demonstrated serological cross‐reactivity between these two viruses of different families. We further demonstrated that COVID‐19 serum samples that were cross‐reactive in dengue virus (DV) serological tests, “cross‐neutralized” all DV serotypes in Huh7 cells. Here we showed by co‐immunoprecipitation (Co‐IP) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging that severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)‐coronavirus (CoV)‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) spike (S) protein subunit S1 and S2 monoclonal antibodies can indeed, bind to DV particles. Likewise, DV envelope antibodies (DV E Abs) showed high docking frequency with other human pathogenic beta‐CoVs and murine hepatitis virus‐1 (MHV‐1). SARS‐CoV‐2 Ab didn't show docking or Co‐IP with MHV‐1 supporting poor cross‐protection among CoVs. DV E Abs showed binding to MHV‐1 (AFM, Co‐IP, and immunofluorescence) and prepandemic dengue patients' serum samples even “cross‐neutralized” MHV‐1 plaques in cell culture. Furthermore, dengue serum samples showed marked inhibition potential in a surrogate virus‐based competitive enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, used for determining neutralizing Abs against SARS‐CoV‐2 S protein receptor‐binding domain in COVID‐19 serum samples. We therefore, provide multiple evidence as to why CoVs are epidemiologically less prevalent in highly dengue endemic regions globally.