Researchers locate two compounds in blood that could identify patients at risk of severe dengue (Common heart test)

Medical Xpress / Nanyang Technological University / Journal of Infection / Clinical Infectious Disea ^ | Dec. 18, 2023 | Andrew Teo et al

[ConservativeMind]

Scientists and clinicians have identified two compounds—sST2 and suPAR—in the blood of dengue patients that could determine if a patient is at risk of severe dengue in the early phases of the disease.

Dengue is often a mild disease. However, a minority of infections may progress to severe dengue, which could be life-threatening for patients that do not have access to close monitoring and specialized medical care.

There are currently no clinically tests sensitive enough to predict severe dengue infection in its early stages.

As lateral flow test kits for sST2 and suPAR are already commercially available and are used to test for heart failure, the researchers are working on validating and adapting these tests into a kit that could test for severe dengue.

sST2 and suPAR are proteins in the blood linked to heart health. High sST2 levels indicate heart stress and fibrosis.

The researchers estimate that this new method of monitoring the levels of the two compounds would bring a higher accuracy—55% to 60%—of predicting severe dengue than the traditional assessment approaches.

"We have found that both sST2 and suPAR, which are present in early dengue cases, show more promise in identifying those at risk of severe dengue. Furthermore, the availability of point-of-care test kits using these biomarkers would improve the user experience, in contrast with laboratory testing that often has a longer turnaround time."

During a dengue infection, the body's immune response is triggered and elevates the levels of sST2 and suPAR. The team quantified the levels of the two compounds in patients' blood and found that most severe dengue cases tended to have higher levels while non-severe cases had lower levels. The researchers observed that when sST2 and suPAR levels exceeded specific values, it was associated with a strong likelihood of developing severe dengue.

[ConservativeMind]

Existing heart tests can serve to identify a much larger number of at risk dengue sufferers.

I know people who went through this, and stayed away from a place on vacation that was dealing with dengue, in the past.

Everyone feels they need the hospital, when they have dengue. Ouch.

[ConservativeMind]

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[Does so]

Dengue fever appears occasionally in South Florida, but only in double-digit numbered cases.