Sero-Diagnosis of Dengue Virus in Different Hospitals of Nepal

Abstract

Dengue fever (DF) is an emerging mosquito borne viral disease and important public health problem in low land Terai region which is also moving towards hilly region in Nepal. This study was designed to determine the sero-prevalence of dengue virus infection during period (June–November) of 2010 in Nepalese patients with fever visiting hospitals of Birganj, Damouli, Biratnagar, Dhading Besi and Chitwan. The sero-prevalence of dengue virus specific IgM was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serum samples were collected from 289 patients visiting hospitals with history of fever and clinically suspected Dengue fever. The anti-dengue IgM positivity was found to be 8.99%. The positive dengue cases were higher in male (10.8%) as compared to female (7.1%) though it was no statistically significant(P>0.05). Among different age groups, the highest positive cases (12.3%) were from age group below 15 years followed by above 50 years age group with 8.3%. Out of 5 hospitals, the highest positive cases were in Tanahu District Hospital, Damouli (23.8%) followed by Bharatpur Hospital, Chitwan (22.2%). 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 (12.7%).So prevalence of Dengue Virus infection is increasing and proper control measure should be provided.