Rapid Dengue Diagnosis: A Prospective Study using a Commercial Rapid Test*

Several commercial test kits are available for the diagnosis of dengue infection but their sensitivity and specificity have not been evaluated extensively. Those that have been evaluated has been done retrospectively using stored serum samples. The PanBio Dengue _________________________ * A similar evaluation of rapid ICT (PanBio, Windsor, Australia) has been undertaken in 1998 by Proell et al.(12) (Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, University Munich, Germany) in comparison to standard immuofluorescence antibody test (IFAT). In all, 25 serum samples for patients returning from dengue endemic areas, presenting clinical signs or recent histories compatible to DF, 30 patients with diarrhoea, and five persons with no history of illness who had been vaccinated against other flaviviruses were evaluated. The results showed that by IFAT, all the 25 patients with clinically suspected DF developed at least a diagnostic four-fold rise of IgG antibody titres against dengue virus and/or had significant IgM titres. In rapid ICT 23 patients (92%) with compatible symptoms had detectable IgM or seroconversion of IgG antibodies. All samples taken from the diarrhoea or the vaccination group were negative for IgM and IgG. The results showed a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 100% for ICT when compared to IFAT. –Editor Rapid Dengue Diagnosis: A Prospective Study using a Commercial Rapid Test 94 Dengue Bulletin – Vol 22, 1998 Immunochromatographic Rapid Test takes five minutes to detect IgM and IgG using a capture assay format, and it is used in this study to assess its usefulness in a clinical setting. Of the 185 patients with severe dengue infection, there was an overall agreement of 91.35% cases based on IgM detection alone and 96.76% if combined with HAI results. Three clinical cases were cited in which the rapid test helped in patient management. However, serological results must be interpreted with caution, taking into consideration clinical and other laboratory findings.