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Subject Area

Pediatrics

Article Type

Letter to the Editor

Abstract

I refer to the interesting study by Bajpai et al. [1] published in October–December 2021 issue of the Menoufia Medical Journal. Utilizing serology, Bajpai et al. [1] found that 18.4% of the patients admitted to a tertiary‑care center located in Central India were found to be seropositive for dengue disease (DD). We believe that the following methodological limitation related to the serology used in the study could bring into question the rightness of the study results. The impact of that limitation could be explained in dual aspects. On one hand, the laboratory detection of DD is based on serology and PCR. The latter is surpassing serology in diagnosing DD as it is considered the most rapid molecular diagnostic tool for detecting dengue virus serotypes [2,3]. On the other hand, India is one of the Asian countries significantly affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19). Numerous dengue‑endemic countries have reported clinical and laboratory similarities between DD and COVID‑19, particularly in the early incubation period making it challenging to discern the infection. Moreover, there is the possibility of antibody cross‑reactivity between DD and COVID‑19 [4,5]. Indeed, PCR could help distinguish between DD and COVID‑19. I wonder why Bajpai et al. [1] referred totally to serology rather than PCR in the study methodology to confirm DD in the studied population. We believe that depending on serology solely could result in missing a substantial number of DD cases.

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