Search

Dengue surveillance relies on reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), for confirmation of dengue virus (DENV) serotypes. We compared efficacies of published and modified primer sets targeting envelope (Env) and capsid-premembrane (C-prM) genes for detection of circulating DENV serotypes in southern India. Acute samples from children with clinically-diagnosed dengue were used for RT-PCR testing. All samples were also subjected to dengue serology (NS1 antigen and anti-dengue-IgM/IgG rapid immunochromatographic assay). Nested RT-PCR was performed on viral RNA using three methods targeting 654bp C-prM, 511bp C-prM and 641bp Env regions, respectively. RT-PCR-positive samples were validated by population sequencing. Among 171 children with suspected dengue, 121 were dengue serology-positive and 50 were dengue serology-negative. Among 121 serology-positives, RT-PCR detected 91 (75.2%) by CprM654, 72 (59.5%) by CprM511, and 74 (61.1%) by Env641. Among 50 serology-negatives, 10 (20.0%) were detected by CprM654, 12 (24.0%) by CprM511, and 11 (22.0%) by Env641. Overall detection rate using three methods sequentially was 82.6% (100/121) among serology-positive and 40.0% (20/50) among serology-negative samples; 6.6% (8/120) had co-infection with multiple DENV serotypes. We conclude that detection of acute dengue was enhanced by a modified RT-PCR method targeting the 654bp C-prM region, and further improved by using all three methods sequentially.

Steel syndrome is a rare disorder of the skeleton characterized by facial dysmorphism, short stature, carpal coalition, dislocated radial heads, bilateral hip dislocation and vertical talus. Homozygous variants in COL27A1 were reported in an extending family from Puerto Rico. Here, we report a 5-year-old girl from a non-consanguineous family with facial dysmorphism, short stature, carpal coalition, dislocation of radial heads, bilateral hip dislocation, scoliosis and vertical talus. Exome sequencing identified 2 novel compound heterozygous variants c.521_528del (p.(Cys174Serfs*34)) and c.2119C>T (p.(Arg707*)) in COL27A1 in this child and the parents were heterozygous carriers. We hence report the second molecularly proven case of Steel syndrome and the first case to be reported among non-Puerto Rican population. Our report further validates the role of COL27A1 mutations in causation of Steel syndrome.

The catastrophic rise in dengue infections in India and globally has created a need for an accurate, validated low-cost rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for dengue. We prospectively evaluated the diagnostic performance of NS1/IgM RDT (dengue day 1) using 211 samples from a pediatric dengue cohort representing all 4 serotypes in southern India. The dengue-positive panel consisted of 179 dengue real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive samples from symptomatic children. The dengue-negative panel consisted of 32 samples from dengue-negative febrile children and asymptomatic individuals that were negative for dengue RT-PCR/NS1 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay/IgM/IgG. NS1/IgM RDT sensitivity was 89.4% and specificity was 93.8%. The NS1/IgM RDT showed high sensitivity throughout the acute phase of illness, in primary and secondary infections, in different severity groups, and detected all 4 dengue serotypes, including coinfections. This NS1/IgM RDT is a useful point-of-care assay for rapid and reliable diagnosis of acute dengue and an excellent surveillance tool in our battle against dengue.