OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study is to consolidate and analyse the dengue case dataset amassed by the e-Dengue web-based information system, developed by the Ministry of Health Malaysia, to improve our epidemiological understanding.
METHODS: We retrieved data from the e-Dengue system and integrated a total of 18,812 cases from 2012 to 2019 (8 years) with meteorological data, geoinformatics techniques, and socio-environmental observations to identify plausible factors that could have caused dengue outbreaks in Ipoh, a hyperendemic city in Malaysia.
RESULTS: The rainfall trend characterised by a linearity of R2 > 0.99, termed the "wet-dry steps", may be the unifying factor for triggering dengue outbreaks, though it is still a hypothesis that needs further validation. Successful mapping of the dengue "reservoir" contact zones and spill-over diffusion revealed socio-environmental factors that may be controlled through preventive measures. Age is another factor to consider, as the platelet and white blood cell counts in the "below 5" age group are much greater than in other age groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Our work demonstrates the novelty of the e-Dengue system, which can identify outbreak factors at high resolution when integrated with non-medical fields. Besides dengue, the techniques and insights laid out in this paper are valuable, at large, for advancing control strategies for other mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, chikungunya, and zika in other hyperendemic cities elsewhere globally.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We assessed oral susceptibility of Malaysian Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus by real-time PCR to an Australian RRV strain SW2089. Replication kinetics in midgut, head and saliva were determined at 3 and 10 days post-infection (dpi). With a 3 log10 PFU/ml blood meal, infection rate was higher in Ae. albopictus (60%) than Ae. aegypti (15%; p<0.05). Despite similar infection rates at 5 and 7 log10 PFU/ml blood meals, Ae. albopictus had significantly higher viral loads and required a significantly lower median oral infectious dose (2.7 log10 PFU/ml) than Ae. aegypti (4.2 log10 PFU/ml). Ae. albopictus showed higher vector competence, with higher viral loads in heads and saliva, and higher transmission rate (RRV present in saliva) of 100% at 10 dpi, than Ae. aegypti (41%). Ae. aegypti demonstrated greater barriers at either midgut escape or salivary gland infection, and salivary gland escape. We then assessed seropositivity against RRV among 240 Kuala Lumpur inpatients using plaque reduction neutralization, and found a low rate of 0.8%.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus are susceptible to RRV, but Ae. albopictus displays greater vector competence. Extensive travel links with Australia, abundant Aedes vectors, and low population immunity places Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at risk of an imported RRV outbreak. Surveillance and increased diagnostic awareness and capacity are imperative to prevent establishment of new arboviruses in Malaysia.
METHODS: In the present study, a single-tube reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay was developed for the detection of both the Asian and African-lineage ZIKV. The detection limit, strain coverage and cross-reactivity of the ZIKV RT-LAMP assay was evaluated. The sensitivity and specificity of the RT-LAMP were also evaluated using a total of 24 simulated clinical samples. The ZIKV quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay was used as the reference assay.
RESULTS: The detection limit of the RT-LAMP assay was 3.73 ZIKV RNA copies (probit analysis, P ≤ 0.05). The RT-LAMP assay detected the ZIKV genomes of both the Asian and African lineages without cross-reacting with other arthropod-borne viruses. The sensitivity and specificity of the RT-LAMP assay were 90% (95% CI = 59.6-98.2) and 100% (95% CI = 78.5-100.0), respectively. The RT-LAMP assay detected ZIKV genome in 9 of 24 (37.5%) of the simulated clinical samples compared to 10 of 24 (41.7%) by qRT-PCR assay with a high level of concordance (κ = 0.913, P