title: Application of molecular typing techniques in the 1998 dengue epidemic in Nicaragua.
abstract: This report presents the results of applying the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to the analysis of clinical specimens during the 1998 dengue epidemic in Nicaragua. The RT-PCR was validated through comparison with viral isolation, resulting in a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 90%. In-country application of the RT-PCR permitted the rapid identification of dengue-3 virus as the cause of the epidemic at the beginning of 1998 and the detection of the reintroduction of dengue-2 virus in the middle of the year. Nineteen isolates of dengue-3 and one of dengue-2 were characterized using the restriction site-specific (RSS)-PCR technique. This showed that the dengue-3 strain belonged to the "Sri Lanka" subtype and that the dengue-2 strain belonged to the "Jamaica" subtype, both of which have been associated with hemorrhagic dengue in the Americas. The application of these simple PCR-based strain typing methods in a country endemic for dengue virus infections can help to characterize the transmission dynamics of this important emerging infectious disease problem and provide this information to local health authorities in a timely manner so that appropriate control measures can be implemented.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Virología, Centro Nacional de Diagnóstico y Referencia, Ministerio de Salud, Managua, Nicaragua.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balmaseda
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sandoval
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D003715:Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009527:Nicaragua / Q000453:epidemiology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D011897:Random Allocation; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000592:standards*; D012621:Seasons; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral