Department of Virology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan.
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan.
Viruses. 2021 Jun 16;13(6):1152. doi: 10.3390/v13061152.
Dengue fever, caused by the mosquito-borne dengue virus (DENV), has been endemic in Myanmar since 1970 and it has become a significant public health burden. It is crucial that circulating DENV strains are identified and monitored, and that their transmission efficiency and association with disease severity is understood. In this study, we analyzed DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, and DENV-4 serotypes in 1235 serum samples collected in Myanmar between 2017 and 2019. Whole-genome sequencing of DENV-1-4 demonstrated that most DENV-1-4 strains had been circulating in Myanmar for several years. We also identified the emergence of DENV-3 genotype-I in 2017 samples, which persisted through 2018 and 2019. The emergence of the strain coincided with a period of increased DENV-3 cases and marked changes in the serotype dynamics. Nevertheless, we detected no significant differences between serum viral loads, disease severity, and infection status of individuals infected with different DENV serotypes during the 3-year study. Our results not only identify the spread of a new DENV-3 genotype into Yangon, Myanmar, but also support the importance of DENV evolution in changing the epidemic dynamics in endemic regions.
登革热是由蚊子传播的登革病毒(DENV)引起的,自 1970 年以来,缅甸一直存在登革热疫情,这已成为一个重大的公共卫生负担。确定循环的 DENV 株并进行监测,了解其传播效率和与疾病严重程度的关联至关重要。在这项研究中,我们分析了 2017 年至 2019 年间在缅甸收集的 1235 份血清样本中的 DENV-1、DENV-2、DENV-3 和 DENV-4 血清型。对 DENV-1-4 的全基因组测序表明,大多数 DENV-1-4 株已在缅甸流行了数年。我们还发现,2017 年的样本中出现了 DENV-3 基因型-I,这种情况一直持续到 2018 年和 2019 年。该菌株的出现恰逢登革热 3 型病例增加和血清型动态明显变化的时期。然而,在 3 年的研究中,我们没有检测到不同 DENV 血清型感染个体的血清病毒载量、疾病严重程度和感染状况之间存在显著差异。我们的研究结果不仅证实了一种新的 DENV-3 基因型已传播到缅甸仰光,还支持了 DENV 进化在改变流行地区疫情动态方面的重要性。