Abstract:
Dengue fever, caused by dengue virus (DENV), which has become one of the most important
mosquitos borne viral diseases with a steady rise in global incidence, including the Sudan. Sporadic
cases and frequent acute febrile illness outbreaks, compatible with Dengue fever, have been reported
in Eastern Sudan especially Port Sudan and Kassala State. This descriptive cross-sectional study was
aimed to determine the frequency and potential risk factors of dengue virus infection in Eastern
Sudan at Kassala and Port Sudan Teaching Hospitals between December 2019 and April 2022.
In this study 93 blood specimens wererandomly collected from febrile patients and they tested for
the presence of DENV-specific immunoglobulin (IgM) antibodies using a commercially available
Anti-dengue IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Among the 93 febrile patients, 83 (89.2%) were seropositive for DENV IgM, while 10(10.8%) were
negative. Concerning positivity according to the age groups, there were 36 (43.3%) in the age group
1-5 years, 32 (38.6%) in the age group 6-11 years, and 15(16.1%) at age groups 12-17 years were
positive for anti-DENV IgM antibodies. There was an in significant association between age group
and Dengue fever (P-value = 0.075). For gender, 42 (50.6%) male, 41 (49.4%) females were positive
for the presence of anti-DEVN IgM antibodies, but there was no meaningful association between
gender and Dengue fever infection (P.value=0.97).On average, 74 (89.2%) of the 83 patients with
anti-DENV antibodies had symptoms lasting from 3-7 days, while 9 patients (9.8%) had symptoms
lasting more than 7 days. An insignificant association was found between anti-DENV-antibodies and
symptoms' duration (P.value=0.65).Among the positive patients, 22 (26.5%) were from Port Sudan,
while 61 (74.5%) were from Kassala. The residence group was not significantly associated with anti DENV antibodies (P.value =0.23).
In conclusion: There was a high frequency of DENV antibodies among febrile patients in Eastern
Sudan, because during that time Red Sea and Kassala States experiencing epidemics of fever.
