PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (Dec 2015)

Epidemiology of Infant Dengue Cases Illuminates Serotype-Specificity in the Interaction between Immunity and Disease, and Changes in Transmission Dynamics.

  • Hannah Clapham,
  • Derek A T Cummings,
  • Ananda Nisalak,
  • Siripen Kalayanarooj,
  • Butsaya Thaisomboonsuk,
  • Chonticha Klungthong,
  • Stefan Fernandez,
  • Anon Srikiatkhachorn,
  • Louis R Macareo,
  • Justin Lessler,
  • Julia Reiser,
  • In-Kyu Yoon

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004262
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 12
p. e0004262

Abstract

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BackgroundInfants born to dengue immune mothers acquire maternal antibodies to dengue. These antibodies, though initially protective, decline during the first year of life to levels thought to be disease enhancing, before reaching undetectable levels. Infants have long been studied to understand the interaction between infection and disease on an individual level.Methods/findingsConsidering infants (cases Conclusions/significanceInfants with dengue are informative about the interaction between antibody and the dengue serotypes, confirming that in this population DENV-2 and DENV-4 almost exclusively cause disease in the presence of dengue antibody despite infections occurring in others. We also observe differences between the serotypes in the mean age in infant cases, informative about the interaction between waning immunity and disease for the different serotypes in infants. In addition, we show that the mean age of infant cases over time is informative about transmission in the whole population. Therefore, ongoing surveillance for dengue in infants could provide useful insights into dengue epidemiology, particularly after the introduction of a dengue vaccine targeting adults and older children.