Quantitation of dengue precipitating antibody by inhibition countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis.

The inhibition countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis test was employed to detect dengue virus antibody in patients' sera. Anti-dengue type 2 titers determined by inhibition countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis correlated well with hemagglutination inhibition titers. In secondary cases, more than fourfold increases in precipitating antibodies were observed. The control sera were negative except for sera from a few patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, which showed low titers. Simultaneous detection of dengue virus antigen and antibody in sera collected during the acute phase could confirm at least 90% of cases. This method is recommended as a routine technique to quantitate antibody in sera from suspected cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever.