Aneela Altaf Kidwai, Jamal Ara, Samina Ghaznawi, Shumaila Abdul Rasheed, Saleemullah Paracha, Tahir Hussain.
Dengue Rapid Diagnostic Tests; Evaluation Of Utility In A Tertiary Care Hospital.
Professional Med J Jan ;24(8):1216-23.

Objectives: To determine the point of care role of dengue IgA and Dengue IgM / IgG rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in a tertiary care setting in terms of day of onset of illness at presentation and frequency of positive RDTs in dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi. Period: August-2014 to January-2016. Method: Patients aged 13years and above with acute febrile illness, fulfilling the WHO case definition criteria of probable DF and DHF were included. Two immunochromatograpic (ICT) based RDTs, Assure dengue IgA and Panbio Dengue Duo Cassette (IgM / IgG) were used. Dengue IgA was employed in all patients from day 2 of illness whereas IgM / IgG was employed after day 4 of onset of fever. Result: Among 174 probable cases, 108 (62%) presented between 2 – 5 days of onset of fever, among whom 87 (80.5%) were found to be dengue IgA positive. Sixty-nine (39.65%) patients had DHF, among whom 97.1% were seropositive for IgA. Of 118 patients presented after 4 days of onset of illness, 59.3% were positive by IgM / IgG rapid assay. Conclusion: Considering the higher frequency of secondary dengue and DHF in dengue endemic-hyperendemic regions, IgA based ICT might be a helpful diagnostic assay for early diagnosis of dengue infection.

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