SEROPREVALENCE OF DENGUE FEVER VIRUS AMONG SUSPECTED PATIENTS IN TAIZ GOVERNORATE-YEMEN

Background: Dengue Fever virus (DENV) considers one of the most important mosquito-borne viral diseases in the world and it is endemic in more than 100 countries. Objective: This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of DENV infection among suspected patients and to investigate some associated risk factors with dengue fever infection in Taiz governorate, Yemen. Methods: This study was cross-sectional, descriptive, and experimental, combining the use of a structured questionnaire and analysis of serum samples obtained from 300 suspected patients attending at many hospital and clinic centers in Taiz during the period from July to November 2016. The serum samples were tested for anti-dengue immunoglobulin (IgM) and (IgG) by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELIZA). Results: Out of 300 suspected febrile cases, it was found that 49(16.3%), 68(22.7%), and 17(5.7%) cases were showed positive for the IgM, IgG, and both IgM and IgG antibodies, respectively, while 166 (55.3%) cases were negative. The incidence rate was more in males than in females. The most affected age group with dengue fever infection were (21–30) years. Dengue Fever was more frequent among patients coming from the urban area, having secondary school, and low-income status people. Also, there was statistical significant between DENV infections with a place of residencyand gender (P0.05). Conclusion: Taiz governorate become one of the endemic governorates in Yemen particularly the Taiz city which should be brought to the attention of public health authorities Peer Review History: Received: 5 September 2020; Revised: 15 October; Accepted: 26 October, Available online: 15 November 2020 UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to