DETECTION OF SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES IN SALIVA DURING DENGUE INFECTION

Saliva was collected prospectively from patients presenting with suspe cted dengue infection 4 to 8 days after the onset of symptoms and assa yed by a commercial dengue immunoglobulin M (IgM) and Ige capture enzy me-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (PanBio Dengue Duo ELISA), Labor atory diagnosis was based on virus isolation and on hemagglutination i nhibition (HAI) assay and an in-house IgM and IgG capture ELISA. With a positive result defined as either salivary IgM or Ige levels above t he cutoff value, an overall sensitivity of 92% was obtained for both p rimary- and secondary-dengue patients (22 of 24), while no patients wi th non-flavivirus infections (n = 11) and no healthy laboratory donors (n = 17) showed elevation of salivary antidengue antibody (100% speci ficity). Salivary IgG levels correlated well with serum HAI titer (r = 0.78), and salivary Ige levels could be used to distinguish between p rimary- and secondary-dengue virus infections.