Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases
Online ISSN : 1884-2836
Print ISSN : 1344-6304
ISSN-L : 1344-6304
Original Articles
An Epidemic of Dengue Virus Serotype-4 during the 2015 - 2017: the Emergence of a Novel Genotype IIa of DENV-4 in the Philippines
Mark Anthony de Vera LuzTakeshi NabeshimaMeng Ling MoiMaria Terrese Alonzo DimamayLady-Anne Suarez PangilinanMark Pierre Sijo DimamayRonald Roll MatiasCynthia Abad MapuaCorazon Cerilla BueranoFerdinand de GuzmanEdith Sangalang TriaFilipinas Florendo NatividadMaria Luisa de Guzman DaroyTaichiro TakemuraFutoshi HasebeKouichi Morita
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2019 Volume 72 Issue 6 Pages 413-419

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Abstract

Dengue remains a major public health problem in the Philippines. In this study, we determined the circulating dengue serotypes in the Philippines during the 2015–2017 outbreaks using a total of 678 serum samples from 537 individual dengue patients. Following an increase in the number of DENV-4 patients in recent years, we conducted a comprehensive molecular and epidemiology analysis on the DENV-4 strains isolated recently in the Philippines. Two genotypes of DENV-4 have been isolated in the Philippines since 1956: GI and GIIa. The GIIa DENV strains that were isolated in the present study were closely related to a distinct group of GIIa strains that were isolated from the Philippines in 2004. A majority of the isolates of this sub-group have been identified in the Philippines, suggesting that this lineage may have been introduced in the Philippines, and evolved to form the distinct sub-group within GIIa strains. The increase in DENV-4 activity also coincided with the appearance of the GIIa subgroup and the phasing-out of the GI lineage in the Philippines. Overall, our study demonstrates a shift in DENV-4 genotype and epidemic dynamics in a hyperendemic region, suggesting the importance of DENV genetic evolution in establishing and sustaining transmission.

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