Recently, urban outbreaks of dengue virus (DENV) have occurred in western areas of Saudi Arabia; Jeddah and Makkah, neighbouring cities to Al-Madinah, where there is growing population traffic. DENV activity has not previously been reported in Al-Madinah. Molecular detection of DENV RNA using type-specific single-step real-time RT-PCR and seroprevalence of anti-DENV antibodies using ELISA was reported among Al-Madinah population for the first time through a cross-sectional study from May 2008 to July 2009. A total of 351 febrile, clinically suspected patients were identified, and acute dengue infection was identified in 71 of them during the first week of onset of fever; 5 (1.4 %) by real-time reverse transcription PCR alone, 45 (12.8 %) cases by IgM-ELISA alone and 13 (3.7 %) by both, while 8 (2.3 %) cases were identified during the second week of fever by the presence of IgM-ELISA only. Anti-DENV IgG antibodies were not detected in any of the tested samples. Of the 71 cases, 55 were resident in Al-Madinah (37 Saudi and 18 non-Saudi); however, all of them were imported cases. DENV-1 and DENV-2 were identified in 7 and 11 cases, respectively, while DENV-3 and DENV-4 were not detected in any cases. It was observed that the middle-aged group was the most infected group. DENV anti-DENV IgM antibodies showed a positive correlation of high significance with the number of days with fever. Nationality and gender were found to be significant independent predictors.
أيمن البدرى | Ayman A. El-Badry | 6852