No Evidence of Acute Dengue Virus Infections at a Rural Site in Western Kenya, 2011 and 2013

Abstract

The incidence and spread of dengue virus (DENV) have increased rapidly in recent decades. Dengue is underreported in Africa, but recent outbreaks and seroprevalence data suggest that DENV is widespread there. A lack of ongoing surveillance limits knowledge about its spatial reach and hinders disease control planning. We sought to add data on dengue distribution in Kenya through diagnostic testing of serum specimens from persons with an acute febrile illness (AFI) attending an outpatient clinic in rural western Kenya (Asembo) during rainy seasons. Patients with symptoms not likely to be misclassified as dengue (e.g., diarrhea and anemia), those with a positive diagnostic laboratory results which explained their febrile illness, or those with serum collected more than 5 days after fever onset were excluded. However, febrile patients with a positive malaria smear were included in the study. We used reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to test for DENV and IgM anti-DENV to test for recent infection. Of the 615 serum specimens available for testing, none were dengue positive by either RT-PCR or IgM anti-DENV testing. Dengue did not appear to be a cause of febrile illness in this area of western Kenya, although our relatively small sample size may not have identified DENV infections occurring at low incidence. A more widespread AFI surveillance system that includes dengue diagnostic testing by RT-PCR and antibody-based methods is required to more definitively gauge the size and geographic distribution of DENV infection in western Kenya.

Epidemiological characteristics and genetic diversity of clinically isolated dengue vector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

“…29 From where the mosquitoes travelled passively to nearby areas and ultimately Asia and Australia. 30 As the Aedes populations of Swat and Peshawar were linked closely with Asian countries, especially India, we can propose that they travelled Pakistan (Lahore) from India via trade. From Lahore the mosquitoes travelled passively to Swat, most probably in the luggage of travelers as high similarities as the sequences were clustered in the same group.…”

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Dengue Virus Circulation in the Rural Community, Handeni District in Tanga, Tanzania

“…In other settings, the epidemiology of DENV infection is changing, with reports indicating a global rise in rural infections, particularly in Africa [10,26]. Conversely, in Gabon, a study suggested minimal DENV infection circulation in rural areas [27], and in Kenya a study reported no evidence of DENV infection circulation in rural communities [28].…”