Serologic evidence of exposure to Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 and Dengue Virus among patients attending diagnostic Laboratory, Lagos State, Nigeria

Reportedly, in co-infection, dengue viral (DENV) replication negatively impacts human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Reports on this or on people having dual HIV-1/DENV are however, scarce in Nigeria, where both HIV-1 and DENV are endemic. As a preliminary investigation in southwest Nigeria, we hypothesized that a high proportion of individuals presented for laboratory tests have serologic evidence of dual HIV-1/DENV infection. This is a cross-sectional Research Institute-based serologic study; patients attending a specific Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory in Lagos State were enrolled. Plasma samples (n=150) of consenting asymptomatic patients were serially screened for evidence of HIV-1 antibodies using DETERMINETM and UNI-GOLDTM HIV-1/-2 rapid test kits. Only the samples (n=54) confirmed HIV-1 reactive by the latter (and some randomly selected non-reactive samples [n=37]) were tested with ELISA kit for anti-DENV immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies. Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences were used for statistical analysis. Some participants had detectable HIV-1/DENV antibodies with dual positivity rate of 16.5% [as group-specific point-prevalence rate]. This was independently associated (p=0.04) with marital status as participants who were neither single nor married (categorized as ‘others’) had more than 11 times (OR: 11.3) likelihood of being dual seropositive. Mono-positivity of HIV-1 antibody among the 91 participants tested for dual HIV-1/DENV seropositivity was 59.3%; corresponding rate for DENV antibody was 20.9%. As per mono-positivity rates, the likelihood of participants testing positive to HIV-1 antibody was more than 21 times (Odds ratio [OR]: 21.3) that of DENV antibody. In conclusion, 15 participants (16.5%) of this specific group had serologic evidence of dual HIV-1/DENV infection; this we considered low given the endemicity of Nigeria for both viruses. As a subpopulation with unusually high HIV-1 mono-positivity; thelow DENV mono-positivity might be responsible for the low dual HIV-1/DENV positivity.