Epidemic Characteristics of Dengue Fever in Guangzhou Prefecture 2002

Objective To explore the epidemic characteristics of dengue fever in Guangzhou prefecture in 2002. Methods Serum samples from 3 716 patients with suspected dengue fever were assayed by ELISA Immunoblot and Immunochromatography to detect the antibody of IgM and IgG. 176 serum samples of dengue fever were made to isolate virus with C6/36 cell line and the positive serum were identified by McAb ?IFA and RT-PCR. Results The serum antibody of IgG, IgM from 886/3 716 (23. 84%) patients were positive. The dengue virus were isolated from 46 serum and the isolation positive rate was 26.1%.This dengue outbreak lasted a longer period of starting on May,climbing to the peak on September and falling ob-viously on November. Conclusions The pathogen of dengue fever in Guangzhou 2002 was the dengue virus I. We should strengthen the surveillance work of dengue virus I.