Laboratory Tests Used in the Diagnostic and Research of Dengue Virus: Present and Future

Dengue is a significant public health problem. There are four dengue virus serotypes identified; however, its diagnosis is difficult due to the existence of many viruses, bac -teria, and parasites producing the same clinical presentation, being present in the same geographical area and even producing coinfections. Therefore, determining whether a person has, had, or is infected with dengue virus is of great importance. In order to do so, direct and indirect laboratory tests have been developed to identify the virus or part of its structure that generally detects the antibody response. These techniques are used for diagnosis, epidemiological studies, monitoring, assessment and production of vaccines and antivirals, etc. They range from the use of cell cultures, animal models, inoculation by insects, and serology tests to the use of detection molecular tests and quantification of genetic material that are described in this chapter herein, a brief explanation of this methodology, its strengths and weaknesses, and its application in the dengue research. molecular techniques, and others. tubes, 6–96 well culture plates, and oth ers are used in order to sustain the binding to cell cultures. A modified shell vial technique allows the recovery of a higher number of YFV, SLV, WNV, ILHV, GCV, OROV, MAYV and DENV isolations. This technique follows the same steps as a standard method, but after inoculating cells, the cultures are centrifuged to velocities between 1800 and 2200 rpm. This technique can also be used to isolate DENV coinfections. However, it seems not to have good results for VEE isolation [19–22].