1Division of Virology, Defence R & D Establishment, Jhansi Road, Gwalior-474002, India.
2Municipal Corporation, Delhi.
Abstracts of the papers presented at the 16th Annual Convention and International Symposium of Indian Virological Society on “Management of Vector-Borne Viruses” at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru-502324, Hyderabad, India, February 7–10, 2006.
Dengue virus infection is emerging and reemerging in more than hundred countries in the world. It has recently taken endemic proportion in India and all the four known dengue serotypes were circulating in our country. The highly fatal Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) and Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) cases were increasingly reported from newer areas of India. In this report, we are presenting the results of an investigation of a dengue outbreak in Delhi during September- November, 2004. A total of 184 clinical samples from patients suspected to have dengue infections were collected from various Municipal Hospitals in Delhi. The serological investigation using an in-house Dipstick ELISA, revealed 10%-IgM, 44%-IgGand 33% - both IgM and IgG antibody positivity. The RT-PCR analysis employing dengue consensus group specific primers revealed 511 bp amplicon in 18 samples only, suggestive of presence of dengue virus. Further subtyping and genotyping by nested PCR and nucleotide sequencing of C-prM gene junction revealed that the implicated viruses belong to the serotype-3 of highly virulent genotype-III. This genotype III is also being reported from several major epidemics in different parts of the world especially in Southeast Asian subcontinent. The continued circulation of this cosmopolitan genotype III of dengue-3 viruses is a major cause of concern for the public health administration in India.
