| BRIEF REPORT |
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| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 26
| Issue : 3 | Page : 154-155 |
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Non-structural protein 1 antigen capture kit as an early dengue diagnostic tool
Sheevani Sheemar, Gomty Mahajan, Shashi Chopra, Jaspal Kaur
Department of Microbiology, Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences, Jalandhar, India
Correspondence Address:
Sheevani Sheemar
144, Gurjeet Nagar, Garha Road, Jalandhar
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0972-4958 .113223
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Introduction: Dengue is a major public health problem in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Detection of specific Immunoglobulin M [IgM] antibodies forms the mainstay for diagnosis of dengue infection. However, IgM antibodies develop after 4-5 days of infection and there is an urgent need for an alternative diagnostic tool that can detect dengue infection during this phase. Materials and Methods: We carried out a prospective study with the aim to analyze the utility of a commercial non-structural protein 1 antigen (NS1 Ag) based rapid immunochromatographic test for detection of dengue infection in anti-dengue IgM seronegative serum samples. Results: A total of randomly selected 86 IgM negative samples were tested for the presence of dengue NS1 Ag. Of these, 59.30% (51/86) were positive for NS1 Ag. Conclusions: Our findings, therefore, supplement the findings of other similar studies suggesting NS1 Ag as an early diagnostic marker that is feasible to look for in a routine diagnostic laboratory. Furthermore, NS1 Ag assay may be a useful tool for detecting dengue infection during acute phase of infection when IgM antibodies are not formed to the detectable levels. |
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