Seroepidemiology of Dengue Virus Infection in HIV-Infected Children in Comparison to Healthy Children.

BACKGROUND: Dengue infection is the most common arboviral infection in the world while the HIV/AIDS epidemic remains a global concern. The pathogenesis of both diseases is rather on the contrary and it is generally observed that dengue diseases are uncommon in children with AIDS. OBJECTIVE: To study the seroprevalence of dengue virus infection in HIV-infected children compared to healthy children. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A cross-sectional seroprevalence of dengue virus was conducted at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand. Eighty-six HIV-infected children aged less than 15 years and one hundred age-matched healthy children were enrolled. HIV-infected children were classified in categories by CDC 1994 criteria. Neutralizing antibodies to all four dengue serotypes (DEN1, DEN2, DEN3, and DEN4) were measured by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT). RESULTS: Fifty out of 86 (58%) HIV-infected children and 65 out of 100 (65%) healthy, HIV-negative children had positive neutralizing antibody against dengue virus by PRNT There were no significant differences between these two groups (p > 0.05). Most children had neutralizing antibody against DEN2. In HIV-infected children, a monotypic PRNT50 pattern was found in 26 children (30%) and multitypic pattern was found in 24 children (28%). Most children had neutralizing antibody against DEN2. There were no significant differences in dengue seroprevalence between these two groups. CONCLUSION: HIV-infected children and healthy children had no different seroepidemiology of dengue virus infection.

Dengue infection: a growing global health threat.

Dengue infection, one of the most devastating mosquito-borne viral diseases in humans, is now a significant problem in several tropical countries. The disease, caused by the four dengue virus serotypes, ranges from asymptomatic infection to undifferentiated fever, dengue fever (DF), and severe dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) with or without shock. DHF is characterized by fever, bleeding diathesis and a tendency to develop a potentially fatal shock syndrome. Consistent hematological findings include vasculopathy, coagulopathy, and thrombocytopenia. There are increasing reports of dengue infection with unusual manifestations that mainly involve cerebral and hepatic symptoms. Laboratory diagnosis includes virus isolation, serology, and detection of dengue ribonucleic acid. Successful treatment, which is mainly supportive, depends on early recognition of the disease and careful monitoring for shock. Prevention depends primarily on control of the mosquito vector. Further study of the pathogenesis of DHF is required for the development of a safe and effective dengue vaccine.