Resurgence of Dengue Virus Serotype 2: Findings from the 2023 Bangladesh Outbreak

Anamul Hasan Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh;

Search for other papers by Anamul Hasan in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Md Fahad Zamil Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh;

Search for other papers by Md Fahad Zamil in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Afrida Tabassum Trina Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh;

Search for other papers by Afrida Tabassum Trina in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Rajat Sanker Roy Biswas Department of Medicine, Chattogram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital Medical College, Chittagong, Bangladesh;

Search for other papers by Rajat Sanker Roy Biswas in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Asifa Kumkum Clinical Laboratory Services, Office of Executive Director, International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh

Search for other papers by Asifa Kumkum in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Dilruba Ahmed Clinical Laboratory Services, Office of Executive Director, International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh

Search for other papers by Dilruba Ahmed in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
, and
Mohammad Shafiul Alam Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh;

Search for other papers by Mohammad Shafiul Alam in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access

ABSTRACT.

Bangladesh experienced the largest and deadliest dengue outbreak in 2023, after the virus had reappeared in the country 2 decades earlier. A total of 1,705 people died in Bangladesh, representing the highest case fatality rate (0.5%) due to dengue in the world for that year. The severity of dengue infection is to some extent related to the emergence of new circulating serotypes. To identify the possible predominant serotype in 2023, the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction-based identification technique was used on stored serum samples of suspected dengue patients during the period between July and December 2023. The overall result of molecular serotyping showed that dengue virus (DENV-2) reappeared as the predominant serotype (74.1%), followed by a moderate number of samples with DENV-1 (19.8%) and DENV-3 (6.1%), in 2023. However, DENV-1 was found to be dominant in a few rural areas of Cox’s Bazar districts. During the 2019 outbreak, DENV-3 was the dominant serotype, which seemed to be replaced by the DENV-2 serotype; this may have impacted the increased case fatality in 2023.

Author Notes

Financial support: This research study was funded by CTK Biotech, Inc. The article processing charge will be provided by the corresponding author of the study. The funder had no influence over the study design, sample collection, data analysis, or manuscript writing.

Disclosures: The study was approved by the institutional ethical review committee of the icddr,b. The institutional review board approved the study under protocol number PR-23080. The corresponding ethical consents/assents were obtained from the participants of Dhaka City and Alikadam. The rest of the samples (as leftover specimens) from other areas were referred to the Emerging Infections & Parasitology Laboratory for serotyping only and were exempted from requiring participants’ consent since only leftover specimens were used after anonymization. The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Authors’ contributions: Conceptualization, A. Hasan and M. S. Alam; methodology, A. Hasan and M. S. Alam; formal analysis, A. Hasan; investigation, A. Hasan, M. F. Zamil, A. T. Trina, R. S. R. Biswas, A. Kumkum, D. Ahmed, M. S. Alam; resources, R. S. R. Biswas, D. Ahmed, M. S. Alam; data curation, M. S. Alam; writing—original draft preparation, A. Hasan; writing—review and editing, M. S. Alam; supervision, M. S. Alam; project administration, M. S. Alam. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Current contact information: Anamul Hasan, Md Fahad Zamil, Afrida Tabassum Trina, Asifa Kumkum, Dilruba Ahmed, and Mohammad Shafiul Alam, International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh, E-mails: anamul.hasan@icddrb.org, fahad.zamil@icddrb.org, afrida.trina@icddrb.org, asifa@icddrb.org, dahmed@icddrb.org, and shafiul@icddrb.org. Rajat Sanker Roy Biswas, Chattogram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital Medical College, Chittagong, Bangladesh, E-mail: rajatbiswas76@yahoo.com.

Address correspondence to Mohammad Shafiul Alam, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), 68 Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh. E-mail: shafiul@icddrb.org
  • 1.

    Ryff KR , 2023. Epidemiologic trends of dengue in U.S. territories, 2010–2020. MMWR Surveill Summ 72: 112.

  • 2.

    Muraduzzaman A , Alam AN , Sultana S , Siddiqua M , Khan MH , Akram A , Haque F , Flora MS , Shirin T , 2018. Circulating dengue virus serotypes in Bangladesh from 2013 to 2016. Virusdisease 29: 303307.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 3.

    Kayesh MEH , Khalil I , Kohara M , Tsukiyama-Kohara K , 2023. Increasing dengue burden and severe dengue risk in Bangladesh: An overview. Trop Med Infect Dis 8: 32.

  • 4.

    Lindsay SW , Wilson A , Golding N , Scott TW , Takken W , 2017. Improving the built environment in urban areas to control Aedes aegypti-borne diseases. Bull World Health Organ 95: 607.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 5.

    Tian H , Sun Z , Faria NR , Yang J , Cazelles B , Huang S , Xu B , Yang Q , Pybus OG , Xu B , 2017. Increasing airline travel may facilitate co-circulation of multiple dengue virus serotypes in Asia. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 11: e0005694.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 6.

    Colón-González FJ , Gibb R , Khan K , Watts A , Lowe R , Brady OJ , 2023. Projecting the future incidence and burden of dengue in Southeast Asia. Nat Commun 14: 5439.

  • 7.

    Walsh M-CR , Alam MS , Pierce KK , Carmolli M , Alam M , Dickson DM , Bak DM , Afreen S , Nazib F , Golam K , 2024. Safety and durable immunogenicity of the TV005 tetravalent dengue vaccine, across serotypes and age groups, in dengue-endemic Bangladesh: A randomised, controlled trial. Lancet Infect Dis 24: 150160.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 8.

    Aziz M , Gorham J , Gregg M , 1967. “ Dacca fever” – An outbreak of dengue. Pak J Med Res 6: 8392.

  • 9.

    Gaidamovich S , Siddiqi SM , Haq F , Klisenko GA , Melnikova EE , Obukhova VR , 1980. Serological evidence of dengue fever in the Bangladesh Republic. Acta Virol 24: 153.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 10.

    Amin M , Hussain A , Murshed M , Chowdhury I , Mannan S , Chowdhury S , Banu D , 1999. Searo-Diagnosis of Dengue Infections by Haemagglutination Inhibition Test (HI) in Suspected Cases in Chittagong, Bangladesh. WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia. Available at: https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/148664. Accessed March 9, 2024.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 11.

    Hossain MA , Khatun M , Arjumand F , Nisaluk A , Breiman RF , 2003. Serologic evidence of dengue infection before onset of epidemic, Bangladesh. Emerg Infect Dis 9: 1411.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 12.

    Aziz M , Hasan K , Hasanat M , Siddiqui M , Salimullah M , Chowdhury A , Ahmed M , Alam M , Hassan M , 2002. Predominance of DEN-3 genotype during the recent dengue outbreak in Bangladesh. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 33: 4248.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 13.

    Rahim R , Hasan A , Phadungsombat J , Hasan N , Ara N , Biswas SM , Nakayama EE , Rahman M , Shioda T , 2023. Genetic analysis of dengue virus in severe and non-severe cases in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2018–2022. Viruses 15: 1144.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 14.

    Haider N , Hasan MN , Khalil I , Tonge D , Hegde S , Chowdhury MAB , Rahman M , Khan MH , Ansumana R , Zumla A , 2023. The 2022 dengue outbreak in Bangladesh: Hypotheses for the late resurgence of cases and fatalities. J Med Entomol 60: 847852.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 15.

    Rahim R , Hasan A , Hasan N , Nakayama EE , Shioda T , Rahman M , 2021. Diversity of dengue virus serotypes in Dhaka city: From 2017 to 2021. Bangladesh J Med Microbiol 15: 2329.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 16.

    Shirin T , Muraduzzaman A , Alam A , Sultana S , Siddiqua M , Khan M , Akram A , Sharif A , Hossain S , Flora M , 2019. Largest dengue outbreak of the decade with high fatality may be due to reemergence of DEN-3 serotype in Dhaka, Bangladesh, necessitating immediate public health attention. New Microbes New Infect 29: 100511.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 17.

    Biswas R , Sequeira A , Nafisa S , Alam K , Bishop J , 2023. Serotype variations and distributions of dengue virus during the 2022 outbreak in Chattogram, Bangladesh. J Bangladesh Coll Phys Surg 49: 66.2.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 18.

    DGHS-MIS, 2024. Dengue Press Release – 31 December 2023. Available at: https://old.dghs.gov.bd/images/docs/vpr/20231231_dengue_all.pdf. Accessed January 1, 2024.

    • PubMed
    • Export Citation
  • 19.

    Santiago GA , Vergne E , Quiles Y , Cosme J , Vazquez J , Medina JF , Medina F , Colón C , Margolis H , Muñoz-Jordán JL , 2013. Analytical and clinical performance of the CDC real time RT-PCR assay for detection and typing of dengue virus. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 7: e2311.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 20.

    Bonna AS , Pavel SR , Mehjabin T , Ali M , 2023. Dengue in Bangladesh. IJID One Health 1: 100001.

  • 21.

    Gould EA , Higgs S , 2009. Impact of climate change and other factors on emerging arbovirus diseases. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 103: 109121.

  • 22.

    Riad MH , Cohnstaedt LW , Scoglio CM , 2021. Risk assessment of dengue transmission in Bangladesh using a spatiotemporal network model and climate data. Am J Trop Med Hyg 104: 1444.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
Past two years Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 1114 1114 189
Full Text Views 46 46 18
PDF Downloads 60 60 19
 
 
 
 
Affiliate Membership Banner
 
 
Research for Health Information Banner
 
 
CLOCKSS
 
 
 
Society Publishers Coalition Banner
Save