The Emergence of an Imported Variant of Dengue Virus Serotype 2 in the Jazan Region, Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Overview

Journal Trop Dis Travel Med Vaccines

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2023 Mar 16

PMID 36922890

Authors

Ommer Dafalla

Ahmed A Abdulhaq

Hatim Almutairi

Elsiddig Noureldin

Jaber Ghzwani

Omar Mashi

Khalid J Shrwani

Yahya Hobani

Ohood Sufyani

Reem Ayed

Abdullah Alamri

Hesham M Al-Mekhlafi

Zaki M Eisa

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Dengue virus (DENV) infection is a global economic and public health concern, particularly in tropical and subtropical countries where it is endemic. Saudi Arabia has seen an increase in DENV infections, especially in the western and southwestern regions. This study aims to investigate the genetic variants of DENV-2 that were circulating during a serious outbreak in Jazan region in 2019.

Methods: A total of 482 serum samples collected during 2019 from Jazan region were tested with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect and classify DENV; positive samples underwent sequencing and bioinformatics analyses.

Results: Out of 294 positive samples, type-specific RT-PCR identified 58.8% as DENV-2 but could not identify 41.2%. Based on sequencing and bioinformatics analyses, the samples tested PCR positive in the first round but PCR negative in the second round were found to be imported genetic variant of DENV-2. The identified DENV-2 imported variant showed similarities to DENV-2 sequences reported in Malaysia, Singapore, Korea and China. The results revealed the imported genetic variant of DENV-2 was circulating in Jazan region that was highly prevalent and it was likely a major factor in this outbreak.

Conclusions: The emergence of imported DENV variants is a serious challenge for the dengue fever surveillance and control programmes in endemic areas. Therefore, further investigations and continuous surveillance of existing and new viral strains in the region are warranted.

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