Abstract:
The objectives of the study were to highlight early
subclinical presentation of dengue viral infection (DVI) as
an undifferentiated febrile illness. The descriptive crosssectional
study was carried out at Microbiology
Department, Rawalpindi Medical College from March to
September 2009. Stratified random sampling was used to
select subjects from various urban and rural areas of
Rawalpindi, and Serum IgG anti-dengue antibodies were
detected by using 3rd generation enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Out of the total 240 subjects,
69 (28.75%) were found to be positive for anti-dengue IgG
antibodies. Of the positive cases, 41 (59.4%) - comprising 31
(44.9%) urban residents - and 10 (14.4%) rural residents
presented with a previous history of undifferentiated fever
(p<0.05). It was concluded that primary DVI can present as
subclinical form in healthy population residing in rural and
urban areas of Rawalpindi, which is an alarming situation
indicating the spread of disease in the study area.
