title: Seroprevalence of three emerging arboviral infections in Kuwaiti nationals.
abstract: Diseases caused by dengue, sandfly fever and hanta viruses pose a major health risk in many countries. We determined the threat of these arboviral infections through a serologic using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based tests. Hantavirus-specific antibodies were also detected using immunofluorescence. Of 499 samples tested for dengue virus IgG antibodies l4% were as positive for dengue positive by all the ELISA tests. Among the 42 showing strong IgG reactivity, only 1 was positive for dengue virus IgM antibodies. All samples tested for IgG antibodies to sandfly fever virus were negative. Hantavirus antibodies were detected in 11% of the 46 samples from high-risk individuals. The low prevalences suggest that at present these infections are not a serious problem in Kuwait.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kuwait, Kuwait.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Pacsa
authors.forename: U C
authors.initials: UC
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Mustafa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001103:Arboviruses / Q000276:immunology; D002043:Bunyaviridae / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D003715:Dengue / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D019353:Endemic Diseases / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000276:immunology; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D007730:Kuwait / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010217:Phlebotomus Fever / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G