All You Have to Know About Dengue Virus Infection

Dengue fever infects around 50 million people each year, according to the World Health Organization, though some studies believe the figure might be as high as 100 million. Dengue fever is an infectious disease caused by dengue viruses, which are spread by mosquitos and transmitted to humans. Dengue has become a major international issue due to its increased prevalence.

What are the symptoms of dengue? Is there a cure? What progress has been made in the treatment? This article will explore the answers to these questions.

What Are the Symptoms of Dengue?

As early as 1801, people called the disease "dengue". The word is Spanish for "affectation," "careful," or "fastidious", which probably described the cautious, stiff movements of patients suffering from the muscle, bone, and joint pain caused by dengue fever.

Dengue virus causes a wide range of symptoms, making it difficult for doctors to diagnose. Some patients have no signs or symptoms at all. Some may show classic symptoms, including a high fever lasting for 2-7 days, pain in muscles, bones, and joints, severe headaches, nausea and vomiting, and a rash. Other symptoms include skin hemorrhages that appear as red or purple spots on the body, as well as bleeding from the skin, nose, and gums.

For patients with severe dengue, the loss of blood plasma from capillaries is the most common sign of severe dengue. Stomach and intestinal bleeding can be fatal in rare situations. Furthermore, people with severe dengue show a proclivity for bruising and have alterations in blood pressure and pulse rate. Dengue fever can cause respiratory problems as well as damage to other organs.

Is There a Cure for Dengue Infections?

There is currently no cure for dengue and no vaccine to prevent dengue infections. However, it is important that patients with dengue be carefully monitored for signs of severe dengue so that they can be treated with fluid replacement in a timely manner and make a full recovery.

What progress has been made in the treatment?

A research published in Science on Jan. 8, 2021 found that a bound antibody named 2B7 can effectively block the spread of the dengue virus in live mice. The dengue virus uses a particular protein, called Non-Structural Protein 1 (NS1), and 2B7 antibody physically blocks the NS1 protein, preventing it from attaching itself to cells and slowing the spread of the virus. The paper suggests that this same antibody could provide new treatments for other flaviviruses like dengue, a group that includes Zika and West Nile.

Another research published in Nature on July 31, 2020 proposed that NS1 can be a new target for inhibition of dengue virus infection by specific peptides. They performed biopanning assays using a phage-displayed peptide library and identified 11 different sequences of 12-mer peptides binding to NS1. 4 of them were tested and observed to have inhibitory effects, indicating the potential application of peptides targeting NS1 as antiviral agents against Dengue virus infection.

As more and more researcher are focusing on finding a treatment for dengue fever, Creative Biolabs, with years of experience in the field of antibody development, has annouced an advanced Anti-Virus Biomolecular Discovery Platform, which is optimal for dengue virus antibody discovery and peptide discovery, hoping to accelerate the progress of global research.