Seroprevalence of Dengue Virus in Hidalgo County from 2005-2017

Abstract

We report the testing results for Dengue in Hidalgo County, Texas from 2005-2017. Serology and PCR testing of submitted samples confirmed that, out of 121 submitted samples, 18 (~15%) were positive for Dengue virus. The highest number of positive samples were from Edinburg and Weslaco, Texas. Dengue virus (DENV) is single-stranded, positive-sense arbovirus that belongs to the family Flaviviridae. This family includes other medically significant viruses such as West Nile virus and Zika virus. There are four antigenically different serotypes of DENV: DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, and DENV-4. All four serotypes can be found worldwide, posing a threat to one-third of the global population and causing an estimated 390 million new infections every year [1]. DENV has historically been transmitted throughout northern Mexico, but few studies have been conducted near the northern Mexico-south Texas border. There is an extreme disparity between reported cases of dengue virus in the northern border states of Mexico, and in the border regions of South Texas [2].