Due to the complexity of DENV confirmation, virus isolation, detection of viral genome or a fourfold rise in antibody titers between acute-

and convalescent-phase serum samples are required for confirmatory diagnosis.[12] An ideal diagnostic test would be affordable and easy to use with high performance and sensitivity in different health settings. In addition, it would be an advantage if the diagnostic assay were flexible in accommodating various laboratory conditions such as in the retainment of assay sensitivity when only limited amounts of serum sample were available. Recently, commercial ELISA tests that detect the nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) have offered a new platform for DENV diagnosis, and studies have shown that detection of NS1 antigen could be useful for the confirmation of DENV infection.[13, 14] In this Ibrutinib purchase study, we examined the utility of NS1 antigen detection in laboratory diagnosis of DENV infection using a panel of serum samples from travelers. The NS1 antigen positive rates determined by NS1 ELISA were compared with the positive rates of real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and IgM-ELISA. The results suggest

that NS1 antigen ELISA is useful for confirming DENV infection, particularly when utilizing serum samples obtained 1–10 days after the onset of disease. The serum panel consisted of 336 serum samples Ribociclib in vivo from cases confirmed positive for DENV infection by RT-PCR, and anti-DENV IgM and IgG antibody. The serum samples were collected from patients admitted in clinics and hospitals in Japan from

the years 2007–2011, and sent to the National Institute Molecular motor of Infectious Diseases, Japan for laboratory diagnosis of dengue. Additionally, the panel included 148 serum samples collected from patients with other illnesses that tested negative for DENV by RT-PCR and serology. The history of Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever vaccination of each traveler was not ascertained. All serum samples were de-identified prior to the conduction of laboratory diagnostic tests. The information of the countries visited was obtained for 276 patients. A total of 191 (69%) returned from Southeast Asia, 56 (20%) from South Asia, 13 (5%) from Central and South America, 11 (4%) from the Pacific Islands, 4 (1%) from Africa, and 1 (0.4%) from the Middle East. Day 1 after onset of disease is defined as the day when the first symptoms such as fever were identified.[15] Primary infection was defined by the positive detection of viral RNA with the absence of DENV anti-DENV IgG antibodies and the absence or presence of anti-DENV IgM antibodies. Secondary infection was defined by the presence of anti-DENV IgG antibodies at the stage of the absence of anti-DENV IgM antibodies.