The association between dengue immunoglobulin G titres with previous clinical dengue infection and white cell counts in Cuban children: A population-based study

Abstract

Background The prevalence of dengue infection is increasing globally. There are few prospective population-based surveillance studies of the immunological and inflammatory consequences of exposure to dengue virus in young children. Objective To study the association between serologically confirmed prior medical diagnosis of dengue infection and blood measures of systemic inflammation with dengue virus immunoglobulin G levels. Methods A population-based study of healthy three-year old children living in Havana, Cuba. Results 865 individuals provided a blood sample. Fourteen (1.6%) had a prior medical diagnosis of dengue infection, and 851 individuals had no prior medical diagnosis. There was no difference in the serum immunoglobulin G titres between these groups (Mann-Whitney test, p = 0.49). Total white cell count, blood neutrophil and eosinophil counts were linearly associated with a dengue immunoglobulin G value above the median value. Conclusions There was no difference between the dengue immunoglobulin G titres in young children who had previously had clinically proven dengue infection compared to those who had no diagnosis of prior infection. This may be a consequence of a relatively high prevalence of sub-clinical infection. A higher dengue immunoglobulin G level was positively associated with a range of inflammatory biomarkers, although these data cannot demonstrate a causal association.