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| Understanding the Protective Side of Dengue Virus | Understanding the Protective Side of Dengue Virus |
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| Infection with one strain of the dengue virus gives people protection against the other three strains for about two years, a new biostatistics study has found. | Infection with one strain of the dengue virus gives people protection against the other three strains for about two years, a new biostatistics study has found. |
| That information should help researchers trying to develop vaccines against the mosquito-borne virus, which is nicknamed “break-bone fever” for the joint pain it causes. | That information should help researchers trying to develop vaccines against the mosquito-borne virus, which is nicknamed “break-bone fever” for the joint pain it causes. |
| Dengue infects 5 percent of the world’s population each year, and its range is increasing. In 2009 it was found in Florida for the first time in decades, and earlier this year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had re-established itself there, although no cases have been confirmed since 2010. | Dengue infects 5 percent of the world’s population each year, and its range is increasing. In 2009 it was found in Florida for the first time in decades, and earlier this year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had re-established itself there, although no cases have been confirmed since 2010. |
| First infections may be mild, but the danger increases with new infections by other strains. In rare cases, dengue can cause fatal internal bleeding or shock. | First infections may be mild, but the danger increases with new infections by other strains. In rare cases, dengue can cause fatal internal bleeding or shock. |
| The study, by Thai and American researchers, was based on 38 years’ worth of laboratory records from one children’s hospital in Bangkok. By measuring how long each strain predominated and then faded in importance, researchers could calculate how long protection lasted against alternate strains. | The study, by Thai and American researchers, was based on 38 years’ worth of laboratory records from one children’s hospital in Bangkok. By measuring how long each strain predominated and then faded in importance, researchers could calculate how long protection lasted against alternate strains. |
| It has been known since the 1940s that infection with one strain protects permanently against that strain but only temporarily against others. That was established by Dr. Albert Sabin, the famous polio vaccine inventor, who investigated dengue because it knocked American troops out of action in the Pacific. | It has been known since the 1940s that infection with one strain protects permanently against that strain but only temporarily against others. That was established by Dr. Albert Sabin, the famous polio vaccine inventor, who investigated dengue because it knocked American troops out of action in the Pacific. |
| He discovered the cross-protection by infecting New Jersey state prisoners sequentially with strains taken from troops on different Pacific islands. But he did not follow any prisoners for more than nine months, said Derek A. T. Cummings, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who was the lead author of the new study. It was published by The Journal of the Royal Society Interface. | He discovered the cross-protection by infecting New Jersey state prisoners sequentially with strains taken from troops on different Pacific islands. But he did not follow any prisoners for more than nine months, said Derek A. T. Cummings, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who was the lead author of the new study. It was published by The Journal of the Royal Society Interface. |
| “That’s not work you could ethically do today,” said a co-author, Nicholas G. Reich, a biostatistician at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. | “That’s not work you could ethically do today,” said a co-author, Nicholas G. Reich, a biostatistician at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. |
| Dengue is “sort of a Goldilocks virus for studying cross-protection,” Dr. Reich added. Some pathogens — like rhinovirus, which causes colds — have too many strains to measure accurately, while others, like flu, have only a few strains but mutate too rapidly to measure how long cross-protection lasts. Dengue, he said, “is just right.” | Dengue is “sort of a Goldilocks virus for studying cross-protection,” Dr. Reich added. Some pathogens — like rhinovirus, which causes colds — have too many strains to measure accurately, while others, like flu, have only a few strains but mutate too rapidly to measure how long cross-protection lasts. Dengue, he said, “is just right.” |
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: |
| Correction: July 15, 2013 | |
An | An article on Tuesday about dengue virus incorrectly described the occurrence of the disease in the United States. There have been a few “locally acquired” confirmed cases along the Texas-Mexico border since 1980, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease’s reappearance in Florida in 2009 was not the first occurrence in the United States in 40 years. The article also referred incompletely to the status of dengue virus in Key West, Fla. While a report issued by the C.D.C said that there had been endemic transmission of the virus there from 2009 to 2010, there has not been a laboratory-confirmed case of dengue on the island since 2010. (A large blood-sample survey would be required to detect mild cases of dengue, and none has been done on Key West in the last three years.) |