Abstract
Arboviruses are a major public health problem worldwide and are predominantly present in intertropical areas. Chikungunya, dengue and zika viruses have been implicated in recent epidemics in Asia, America and Africa. In Cameroon, data on these viruses are fragmentary. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of detection of these three viruses in febrile patients in Douala, Cameroon. A cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted from March to April 2017 at the New-Bell District Hospital in Douala. Blood samples were collected from febrile patients and tested for malaria infections using Rapid Diagnostic test. Plasma harvested was later analyzed for the presence of chikungunya, dengue and zika viruses by a Trioplex real-time RT-PCR at Centre Pasteur of Cameroon. A total of 114 participants were included, of which 63.2% were females, reflecting a sex ratio (female/male) of 1.7. The median age was 26 years, range [0.25–81]. Eight (7%) of the 114 participants were infected with Dengue virus (DENV) among which 5 were identified as serotype 1. No cases of infection by either Zika virus or Chikungunya virus were detected. Three cases of dengue-malaria co-infection (13%) were recorded. No association was found between socio-demographic factors and dengue infection. The phylogenetic analysis of the partial envelope E gene showed that all the five DENV serotype 1 samples belonged to subtype V, similarly to strains from West African countries, particularly those from Nigeria, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. This study showed the circulation of DENV serotype 1 in febrile patients and raises the alarm for the establishment of a sustained surveillance system to detect cases and prevent potential outbreaks in Cameroon. The existence of dengue-malaria co-infections suggests that surveillance of arboviruses should not be limited to febrile, non-malarial cases.
Highlights
Vector-borne diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world [1]
The majority of arboviruses that infect humans are classified into different families; Nairoviridae (Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, etc.), Peribunyaviridae (Bunyamwera virus, Bwamba virus, etc.), Phenuiviridae (Rift Valley fever virus, etc.), Flaviviridae and Togaviridae
Concerning the level of knowledge of the study population with regard to these three arboviruses, only 3/114 (2.6%) participants had already heard of Dengue virus (DENV), among which one had heard about the ZIKV and CHIKV
Summary
Vector-borne diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world [1] This is the case with arbovirus infections. The majority of arboviruses that infect humans are classified into different families; Nairoviridae (Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, etc.), Peribunyaviridae (Bunyamwera virus, Bwamba virus, etc.), Phenuiviridae (Rift Valley fever virus, etc.), Flaviviridae (dengue virus—DENV, zika virus—ZIKV, etc.) and Togaviridae (chikungunya virus -CHIKV, equine encephalitis viruses, etc.). They are single-stranded, enveloped viruses with a ribonucleic acid (RNA) of positive-polarity [2]. Biological diagnosis can be made either in early stages of the disease (during the first few days) by the search for the virus or its constituents; or in later stages (7 days or more after the onset of clinical signs) by screening for antibodies against arboviruses with serological assays [4,5]
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