Serum Dried Samples to Detect Dengue Antibodies: A Field Study

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Virology
• Public Health

Background:

• Dried blood and serum samples are valuable for detecting antiviral antibodies.
• Optimizing sample elution conditions is crucial for disease-specific antibody detection.
• Dengue surveillance in Mexico necessitates efficient diagnostic methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To standardize and validate a protocol for detecting dengue antibodies from dried serum spots (DSSs).
• To establish optimal elution conditions for DSS samples for dengue antibody detection.

Main Methods:

• Collected paired serum and DSS samples from 66 suspected dengue cases in Veracruz, Mexico.
• Established optimal DSS elution conditions in the laboratory.
• Determined the presence of anti-dengue antibodies in paired serum and DSS samples.

Main Results:

• Standardized DSS elution: 1 hour at 4°C in 200 µl of nuclease/protease-free PBS.
• Optimal eluate volume for IgG assay: 40 µl.
• Achieved 94% sensitivity, 93.3% specificity, and 0.87 kappa concordance for anti-dengue antibody detection using DSSs compared to serum.

Conclusions:

• Dried serum spot samples are effective for detecting anti-dengue IgG antibodies.
• The standardized DSS protocol is suitable for field-based dengue diagnosis and surveillance.