Detection of dengue viral RNA in patients' sera by nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Abstract

Nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) wa employed with a set of universal primers and probe based on th 3′ non-coding region of the dengue viral RNA sequence. NASBA was used for the detection of the viral RNA in sera of patients clinically diagnosed as having dengue virus infection, and compared with polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Thirty-four acute sera were obtained from patients suspected of having dengue virus infection and 20 normal sera were obtained from primary-school children, There were 27 (50%) samples that gave a positive results for PCR, and 28 (51.85%) samples for NASBA, while 27 (50%) samples gave a negative result for PCR and 26 (48.15%) samples for NASBA. There was only one (1.85%) sample that gave a false positive result with NASBA and no false negative result was found in this study. NASBA gave 100% sensitivity, 96.30% specificity and 98.15% efficacy, respectively. NASBA will be useful in the early detection of acute dengue virus infection.