Dengue is one of the major public health threats in Kolkata. Every year, blood samples with dengue-like illness are referred to us from different medical colleges and hospitals in Kolkata for the detection of dengue infection in them. In 2010, a total of 378 samples were referred to us for that purpose. All the samples were tested for the detection of IgM antibodies by ELISA method, followed by RT-PCR test for the detection of serotypes. Only 173 samples were ELISA positive. Out of 378 samples, 108 were RT-PCR positive. Out of 108 samples, 74 samples had monotypic infection with different serotypes of DENV and 33 samples had dual infections with DENV-2 and DENV-3. Only one sample had the infection with DENV-1, DENV-2, and DENV-3. DHF was found mainly among the patients, infected with multiple dengue serotypes. Only 3 dengue monotypic infected patients had suffered from DHF. 1. Introduction During the past few decades, dengue fever has gradually become one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in tropical and subtropical areas throughout the world [1]. The Dengue virus (DENV), a mosquito-borne member of the family Flaviviridae, circulates as four distinct serological types DENV 1, DENV 2, DENV 3, and DENV 4. Over all, two-fifth of the world population are living in areas, at risk for dengue [2–4]. These four sero types offer cross protection for a very short period. Infection with any of these leads to a mild self-limiting febrile illness (dengue fever, DF). A more severe form of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS), is responsible for high mortality rate, especially in children [5]. It has been estimated that about 50 million cases of DF occur annually, with 10,000 infant deaths due to DHF/DSS. DHF/DSS has been postulated to result from immune enhancement after a second heterologous DENV infection [6]. In India, DENV was first isolated in 1946 and many outbreaks have been reported [7–10]. DHF was first reported in Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal in 1963 [11], again in 1964 [12]. Since then, there are numerous studies from the Indian subcontinent investigating DHF in various parts of the country [13–22]. But there are no studies investigating the overall prevalence of the dengue serotype circulating in the endemic zone, apart from the epidemic outbreak. The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive report on the diagnosis of dengue infection amongst the febrile cases, available from January to December, 2010, in the city of Kolkata and also to identify the serotype presently circulating in this
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