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Updated: Nov 10, 2025
A Murine Model of Dengue Virus-induced Acute Viral Encephalitis-like Disease
Published on: April 28, 2019
Systemic dengue infection associated with a new dengue virus type 2 introduction in Brazil - a case report
Marielton Dos Passos Cunha1, Amaro Nunes Duarte-Neto2, Shahab Zaki Pour3
1Laboratory of Molecular Evolution and Bioinformatics, Department of Microbiology, Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. marieltondospassos@gmail.com.
Background:
Dengue infection is caused by an arbovirus with a wide range of presentations, varying from asymptomatic disease to unspecific febrile illness and haemorrhagic syndrome with shock, which can evolve to death. In Brazil, the virus circulates since the 1980s with many introductions of new serotypes, genotypes, and lineages since then. Here we report a fatal case of dengue associated with a Dengue virus (DENV) lineage not detected in the country until now.
Case Presentation:
The patient, a 58-year-old man arrived at the hospital complaining of fever and severe abdominal pain due to intense gallbladder edema, mimicking acute abdomen. After 48 h of hospital admission, he evolved to refractory shock and death. DENV RNA was detected in all tissues collected (heart, lung, brain, kidney, spleen, pancreas, liver, and testis). Viral sequencing has shown that the virus belongs to serotype 2, American/Asian genotype, in a new clade, which has never been identified in Brazil before. The virus was phylogenetically related to isolates from central America [Puerto Rico (2005-2007), Martinique (2005), and Guadeloupe (2006)], most likely arriving in Brazil from Puerto Rico.
Conclusion:
In summary, this was the first fatal documented case with systemic dengue infection associated with the new introduction of Dengue type 2 virus in Brazil during the 2019 outbreak.
