The quantitative kinetic study of dengue viral antigen by flow cytometry. I. An in vitro study.

A system effective in the early diagnosis of Dengue virus infection was developed. The time course kinetics of Dengue virus type 2 (D-2) antigen in vitro were analyzed by Flow Cytometry. Early profiles of D-2 were also studied quantitatively through this method of analysis. The early events of host cell and virus interaction were investigated: attachment, internalization and replication. From these early profiles, the time at which new viral synthesis was detectable differed with each individual trial. These different times were found to be dependent of the phase of the cell cycle. From these results we could detect newly synthesized viral antigen within 10 h after infection.