The 1993 dengue 2 epidemic in North Queensland: a serosurvey and comparison of hemagglutination inhibition with an ELISA.
An epidemic of dengue type 2 infection occurred in North Queensland during 1992 and 1993. A random serosurvey of 1,000 residents of a population that experienced this epidemic only during 1993 was conducted to determine the proportion of the population at risk for secondary infection in the event of another epidemic with a different serotype. The ability of an ELISA to detect prior exposure to the dengue virus was compared with the hemagglutination inhibition assay. Dengue 2 virus plaque-reduction neutralization assays were performed to evaluate the specificity of the antibody response. Antibodies to dengue virus, or closely related flaviviruses, were detected in 61.9%. Seroprevalence increased with age and correlated well with known previous epidemics in the region. The sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA was 99.2% and 96.2%, respectively. An estimated 26% of the population was infected during the 1993 epidemic.
McBride
W J
WJ
School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Mullner
H
H
LaBrooy
J T
JT
Wronski
I
I
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003715:Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000276:immunology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006385:Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011793:Queensland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000914:Antibodies, Viral