Sensitive and Stable Molecular Detection of Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika Viruses from Dried Blood Spots
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Updated: Sep 3, 2025
Multiplexed Isothermal Amplification Based Diagnostic Platform to Detect Zika, Chikungunya, and Dengue 1
Published on: March 13, 2018
Jaime A Cardona-Ospina1,2, Victoria Stittleburg3, Natalia Millan-Benavidez1
1Grupo de Investigación Biomedicina, Facultad de Medicina, Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia.
Abstract:
Standard molecular detection of many pathogens, in particular RNA viruses, requires appropriate handling in the field for preserving the quality of the sample until processing. This could be challenging in remote tropical areas. Dengue virus (DENV), chikungunya virus (CHIKV), and Zika virus (ZIKV) are RNA viruses, prominent among the causes of fever in the tropics. We aimed to test the stability of arboviral RNA in contrived dried blood spots prepared on Whatman 903 Protein saver cards as a means of sample collection and storage. We were able to detect DENV, CHIKV, and ZIKV by real-time RT-PCR up to 180 days after card inoculation with stable Ct values across the study period. Our study supports dried blood spots (DBS) on protein saver cards as a platform for stable detection of arboviral RNA of sufficient quality to be used in diagnostic RT-PCR assays and next generation sequencing.
