TY - JOUR
T1 - Potential Antigenic Cross-reactivity Between Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Dengue Viruses
AU - Lustig, Yaniv
AU - Keler, Shlomit
AU - Kolodny, Rachel
AU - Ben-Tal, Nir
AU - Atias-Varon, Danit
AU - Shlush, Ekaterina
AU - Gerlic, Motti
AU - Munitz, Ariel
AU - Doolman, Ram
AU - Asraf, Keren
AU - Shlush, Liran I.
AU - Vivante, Asaf
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: [email protected].
PY - 2021/10/1
Y1 - 2021/10/1
N2 - Background. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and dengue fever are difficult to distinguish given shared clinical and laboratory features. Failing to consider COVID-19 due to false-positive dengue serology can have serious implications. We aimed to assess this possible cross-reactivity. Methods. We analyzed clinical data and serum samples from 55 individuals with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. To assess dengue serology status, we used dengue-specific antibodies by means of lateral-flow rapid test, as well as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Additionally, we tested SARS-CoV-2 serology status in patients with dengue and performed in-silico protein structural analysis to identify epitope similarities. Results. Using the dengue lateral-flow rapid test we detected 12 positive cases out of the 55 (21.8%) COVID-19 patients versus zero positive cases in a control group of 70 healthy individuals (P = 2.5E−5). This includes 9 cases of positive immunoglobulin M (IgM), 2 cases of positive immunoglobulin G (IgG), and 1 case of positive IgM as well as IgG antibodies. ELISA testing for dengue was positive in 2 additional subjects using envelope protein directed antibodies. Out of 95 samples obtained from patients diagnosed with dengue before September 2019, SARS-CoV-2 serology targeting the S protein was positive/ equivocal in 21 (22%) (16 IgA, 5 IgG) versus 4 positives/equivocal in 102 controls (4%) (P = 1.6E−4). Subsequent in-silico analysis revealed possible similarities between SARS-CoV-2 epitopes in the HR2 domain of the spike protein and the dengue envelope protein. Conclusions. Our findings support possible cross-reactivity between dengue virus and SARS-CoV-2, which can lead to false-positive dengue serology among COVID-19 patients and vice versa. This can have serious consequences for both patient care and public health.
AB - Background. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and dengue fever are difficult to distinguish given shared clinical and laboratory features. Failing to consider COVID-19 due to false-positive dengue serology can have serious implications. We aimed to assess this possible cross-reactivity. Methods. We analyzed clinical data and serum samples from 55 individuals with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. To assess dengue serology status, we used dengue-specific antibodies by means of lateral-flow rapid test, as well as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Additionally, we tested SARS-CoV-2 serology status in patients with dengue and performed in-silico protein structural analysis to identify epitope similarities. Results. Using the dengue lateral-flow rapid test we detected 12 positive cases out of the 55 (21.8%) COVID-19 patients versus zero positive cases in a control group of 70 healthy individuals (P = 2.5E−5). This includes 9 cases of positive immunoglobulin M (IgM), 2 cases of positive immunoglobulin G (IgG), and 1 case of positive IgM as well as IgG antibodies. ELISA testing for dengue was positive in 2 additional subjects using envelope protein directed antibodies. Out of 95 samples obtained from patients diagnosed with dengue before September 2019, SARS-CoV-2 serology targeting the S protein was positive/ equivocal in 21 (22%) (16 IgA, 5 IgG) versus 4 positives/equivocal in 102 controls (4%) (P = 1.6E−4). Subsequent in-silico analysis revealed possible similarities between SARS-CoV-2 epitopes in the HR2 domain of the spike protein and the dengue envelope protein. Conclusions. Our findings support possible cross-reactivity between dengue virus and SARS-CoV-2, which can lead to false-positive dengue serology among COVID-19 patients and vice versa. This can have serious consequences for both patient care and public health.
KW - COVID-19
KW - West Nile
KW - dengue
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101756779&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/cid/ciaa1207
DO - 10.1093/cid/ciaa1207
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C2 - 32797228
AN - SCOPUS:85101756779
SN - 1058-4838
VL - 73
SP - E2444-E2449
JO - Clinical Infectious Diseases
JF - Clinical Infectious Diseases
IS - 7
ER -