title: Virus isolation for diagnosing dengue virus infections in returning travelers.
abstract: Dengue fever is recognized as one of the most frequent imported acute febrile illnesses affecting European tourists returning from the tropics. In order to assess the value of virus isolation for the diagnosis of dengue fever, 70 cases of dengue fever confirmed in German travelers during the period 1993-2001 were analyzed retrospectively. In 26 patients who had developed acute febrile illness within 2 weeks following their return from a trip to a dengue-endemic area, 9 of 13 attempts to isolate the virus were successful in sera drawn 1-5 days and 2 of 13 sera drawn 6-10 days after the onset of illness. DEN-1 was the most frequent serotype isolated. If performed early, virus isolation is a reliable tool for detecting dengue virus in returning travelers.
authors.affiliation: Medical Clinic, Department of Infectious Diseases, Charité/Campus Virchow Hospital, Humboldt University, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany. dieter.teichmann@khdn.de
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Teichmann
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Göbels
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niedrig
authors.forename: J-W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Sim-Brandenburg
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Làge-Stehr
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Grobusch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D019595:Severe Dengue / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014195:Travel