Dengue in Puerto Rico January-June, 1991

From January through June 1991, serum samples from 1,970 patients were submitted to the San Juan Laboratories (SJL) for testing. Dengue was confirmed serologically or virologically in 594 (30 percent) of these patients. The number of samples from suspected cases submitted to SJL during this period was 25 percent lower than last year (2,622), although more reports were received for May and June of 1991 than for the same months in 1990. Dengue was ruled out as a diagnosis in 15 percent of the 1,970 samples; the results of 58 samples were not yet available, and the laboratory diagnosis of 1,014 cases remained undetermined because convalescent serum samples had not been received (AU)