COMPARISON OF ANTI-DENY/JEV IGG-MAB ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY AND HEMAGGLUTINATION INHIBITION ASSAY

The hemagglutination inhibition assay (HAI) is commonly used for serological screening of dengue virus (DENV) and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infections. However, HAI is time- and resource-intensive due to the multiple steps required for serum processing. This study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of a monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (mAb-ELISA) in screening DENV- and JEV-specific IgG compared to the more traditional HAI. We selected 170 pairs of serum specimens obtained eight months apart during routine DENV surveillances in Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand, 2004-2005. These specimen pairs were tested by HAI to measure changes in neutralizing titers in individual subjects, followed by plaque reduction neutralization test for confirmation. Comparison of the HAI and anti-DENV/JEV IgG mAb-ELISA showed 100% specificity of IgG mAb-ELISA using 4G2 or the pair 2H2/J93 mAbs, and 92.9% and 97.6% sensitivity for 4G2 and 2H2/J93 mAb, respectively. Both anti-DENV/JEV IgG-4G2 and anti-DENV/JEV IgG-2H2/J93 mAb-ELISA correlated highly with DENV/JEV HAI. Hence, the anti-DENV/JEV IgG mAb-ELISA should be considered as an alternative screening tool to HAI for serological screening of DENV/JEV infection.