Detection of dengue virus.

Global incidence of dengue has increased considerably over the past decade. Dengue fever (DF) is a self-limiting disease; however, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) are fatal. Since there is no therapy and vaccine against dengue, timely diagnosis is therefore necessary for patient management. Laboratory diagnosis is carried out by virus isolation, demonstration of viral antigen, presence of viral nucleic acid, and antibodies. Further, recombinant dengue envelope protein can be used to detect specific antibodies, both IgG and IgM against all four serotypes of virus using an E. coli vector. The purified protein can then be used for detection of dengue specific IgG or IgM antibodies in patient serum with higher sensitivity and specificity, than that of traditional assays. Molecular detection can be accomplished by a one-step, single-tube, rapid, multiplex, RT-PCR for serotype determination. Despite many advantages of the modern techniques, isolation of virus is still considered as "gold-standard" in dengue diagnosis.