Dengue virus, an arthropod – borne arbovirus of the genus Flavivirus, is the causative agent of dengue fever. Presently the virus has four distinct serotypes, known as DENV-1, 2, 3 and 4, are transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. Over 50% of the global population are at risk of dengue transmission with the vast majority in Asia, then Africa and America. Recent studies have shown an increase in dengue virus prevalence in Nigeria. This study was carried out in four states in the North East region of Nigeria and involved five government tertiary health institutions. The four states included Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba states. Dengue virus seroprevalence of 34% was recorded among the 400 participants who took part in the study. Of the three different serological markers tested in this study, dengue virus seroprevalence of 7.8%, 32.3% and 7.5% was recorded for NS1, IgM and IgG, respectively. The study showed a high rate of acute/current infection among the study population with IgM of 32.3%. Results from this study showed dengue seroprevalence P value of < 0.001, which is statistically significant; inferring that dengue virus could be an emerging cause of fever in this region. Study participants from Taraba state showed the highest seroprevalence of 56.6% for IgM. Indicating that Taraba and neighbouring states are particularly vulnerable to acute and current infection with dengue. There is therefore a need for the government to address the situation before it becomes a national emergency.
Attah et al. (Tue,) studied this question.