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SHORT PAPER Changing prevalence of antibody to Dengue virus in paired sera in the two years following an epidemic in Taiwan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 1997

W.-J. CHEN ,
C.-C. KING ,
L.-Y. CHIEN ,
S.-L. CHEN  and
A.-H. FANG
W.-J. CHEN
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Chang Gung College of Medicine and Technology, Kwei-San, Tao-Yuan 33332, Taiwan
C.-C. KING
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10018, Taiwan
L.-Y. CHIEN
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10018, Taiwan
S.-L. CHEN
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical College, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
A.-H. FANG
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical College, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
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Abstract

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To elucidate the epidemic pattern of a dengue outbreak in southern Taiwan during 1987–8, antibody prevalence rates were investigated in paired sera collected in both epidemic (Kaohsiung) and non-epidemic (Tainan) areas. In Kaohsiung, the IgG prevalence rate in 1989 was significantly higher (9·23%) than that in 1988 (5·29%) suggesting that new infections continuously appeared after the first bleeding in 1988. Although IgG antibody persisted in most infected blood samples, waning of antibody occurred in 6/355 (1·69%) of Kaohsiung sera. IgM antibody was only detected in Kaohsiung sera, suggesting that Tainan was not involved in the outbreak. Because IgG antibody was present in some samples collected in 1989, but not in 1988, from the non-epidemic area, sporadic infections perhaps occurred. Additionally, 4/355 (1·13%) of Kaohsiung sera showed IgM antibody positive in both 1988 and 1989. In turn, secondary infections may have occurred because of circulation of multiple-types of the virus. The possible relationship between low levels of dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) and the loss of IgG antibodies over time is also discussed.

Type
Brief Report
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 119 , Issue 2 , October 1997 , pp. 277 - 279
Copyright
© 1997 Cambridge University Press