P-1835. Dual burden of infections: seroprevalence of acute viral hepatitis among dengue patients in northern India

TL;DR

This study found that some dengue patients in northern India also had acute viral hepatitis, which could lead to misdiagnosis due to overlapping symptoms.

Contribution

The study highlights the coexistence of dengue and acute viral hepatitis in patients, emphasizing the need for combined screening.

Findings

7 out of 119 dengue-suspected patients had both HAV and HEV infections.

29.7% of dengue-negative cases tested positive for HEV.

Co-infection with both HAV and HEV was observed in 3 patients.

Abstract

Dengue fever and acute viral hepatitis have emerged as significant global public health challenges, including India. Acute viral hepatitis is most commonly caused by the Hepatitis A virus (HAV) and the Hepatitis E virus (HEV), both of which are transmitted through faeco-oral route. This retrospective study aimed to assess the prevalence of acute viral hepatitis among clinically suspected dengue cases presented at the National Institute of TV and Respiratory Diseases in 2024.

To identify the presence of acute viral hepatitis caused by HAV and HEV, 119 specimens were selected from dengue-suspected clinical samples in 2024, based on the presence of symptoms indicative of acute viral hepatitis. Later, serological diagnosis was performed on these samples using anti-HAV IgM and anti-HEV IgM ELISA kits.

Based on seropositivity for IgM antibodies, 7 (6.5%) dengue virus (DENV) seropositive samples tested positive for both HAV and HEV. Among DENV seronegative cases, 18 (29.7%) samples were positive for HEV, and 5 (3.8%) samples were positive for HAV, indicating the potential for misdiagnosis due to overlapping symptoms. Co-infection with both HAV and HEV was observed in 3 samples.

The findings of this study highlighted the presence of acute hepatitis infections among the dengue cases both monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. Overlapping of clinical manifestations of these diseases can lead to misdiagnosis incidences raising risk for underreporting of the true cases of acute viral hepatitis infection. Based on the findings, it is recommended that dengue-suspected patients with selected symptoms during both monsoon and post-monsoon seasons should also be screened for acute hepatitis infections.

All Authors: No reported disclosures