Etiologic and Serologic Investigations of the 1980 Epidemic of Dengue Fever on Hainan Island, China

Virologic and seroepidemiologic studies were carried out during an epidemic of dengue fever on Hainan Island in 1980. Dengue 3 virus was isolated from 46 of 77 acute phase sera and from 1 of 10 pools of adult Aedes aegypti. Dengue 1 virus virus was isolated from a single acute phase serum. Seroepidemiologic investigations showed that 74% of healthy individuals in the epidemic area had antibody to dengue virus compared to 54% in an area where epidemic dengue had occurred in 1978, and less than or equal to 8% in nonepidemic areas. There were no significant differences in antibody prevalence for different sex and age groups.