Comparative study of RDT and ELISA kit for diagnosis of dengue virus infection

Dengue fever (DF) is a viral disease generally transmitted by mosquitoes of the Aedes genus: Aedes aegypti. A total of 261 samples were tested by IgM Capture ELISA and Dengue IgM/IgG RDT Kit, out of which 18.8% of dengue-positive cases were detected by IgM Capture ELISA and 15.3% by the RDT Kit. The sensitivity of the RDT Kit was found to be 73.46% in comparison to ELISA. Among the suspected cases, 67.4% were male and 32.6% were female. The age group 15–50 years had the highest dengue-positive cases (81.6%). Students had the highest number of positive cases (32.7%) in the professional group. Patients with joint pain, retro-orbital pain, and skin rash as major symptoms were diagnosed as dengue-positive by RDT and ELISA test methods. The study focused only on dengue-positive or negative cases among suspected patients, but there is a need for molecular tests such as PCR for identification of serotypes circulating among suspected cases.