Diagnostic Efficacy of Rapid Immunochromatographic Test in Diagnosis of Dengue Infection

Abstract

Dengue is a mosquito-borne arboviral disease of grave public health concern worldwide. Early diagnosi and treatment is required to reduce morbidity & mortality from complications caused by secondar dengue infection. According to WHO, the three main diagnostic modalities for the diagnosis of dengu infection are cultivation and identification of viruses, molecular methods, and serology. Whereas viru cultivation is labour intensive and available only in reference laboratories, molecular methods requir expensive infrastructure & expertise. Serology on the other hand not only less tedious but is also abl to differentiate between primary and secondary dengue. This study was undertaken to evaluate th diagnostic efficacy of rapid immunochromatographic assay in the diagnosis of dengue infection a compared to ELISA. The study was conducted in the serology section of the Microbiology laboratory Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences, Amritsar. Blood samples from 429 patients with clinica suspicion of dengue virus infection were received in the lab from August 2020 to December 2020. Al samples were subjected to rapid ICT and ELISA to detect NS1 Ag and IgM antibodies. The majorit number of cases were observed in the age group of 31 to 40 years while the gender-wise ratio wa 1.43:1 showing male preponderance. Out of 429 samples tested, 156 were reactive for either NS antigen or IgM antibodies by the ELISA method. Results of rapid ICT for NS1Ag and results of NS1A by ELISA were analyzed and compared. A sensitivity of 81.25% was noted and specificity of 100% IgM detection by rapid ICT in comparison to IgM ELISA shows a sensitivity of 82.14% and specificit of 100%. Rapid ICT kits performed at par with the ELISA. Rapid immunochromatographic assays ar important diagnostic tools in the identification of dengue and early treatment of dengue patients i possible, reducing mortality significantly.