Dengue fever in U.S. troops during Operation Restore Hope, Somalia, 1992- 1993

T. W. Sharp*, M. R. Wallace, C. G. Hayes, J. L. Sanchez, R. F. DeFraites, R. R. Arthur, S. A. Thornton, R. A. Batchelor, P. J. Rozmajzl, R. K. Hanson, Jue Wu Shuenn Jue Wu, C. Iriye, J. P. Burans

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

101 Scopus citations

Abstract

Dengue fever (DF) was considered to be a potential cause of febrile illness in U.S. troops deployed to Somalia during Operation Restore Hope in 1992-1993. A prospective study of hospitalized troops with fever and a seroepidemiologic survey of 530 troops were conducted. Among 289 febrile troops hospitalized, 129 (45%) did not have an identified cause of their fever. Dengue (DEN) virus was recovered from 41 (43%) of 96 of these patients by inoculation of admission sera into C6/36 cell cultures. Thirty-nine (41%) of the isolates were identified as DEN-2 and two (2%) as DEN-3 by an indirect immunofluorescent antibody assay. An additional 18 (49%) of 37 culture- negative cases were shown by immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody capture enzyme linked immunosorbent assay to have anti-DEN virus antibody. All identified DF cases recovered within 1-2 weeks; no case of dengue hemorrhagic fever or shock syndrome was observed. A seroepidemiologic survey of a unit (n = 494) with 17 culture or serologically identified DF cases and a 13% attack rate of unidentified febrile illness revealed a 7.7% prevalence of antiDEN virus IgM antibody. Failure to use bed nets was the only identified risk factor for DEN infection (adjusted odds ratio = 2.2, 95% confidence interval = 1.4-3.0). These data indicate that DF was an important cause of febrile illness among US troops in Somalia, and demonstrate the difficulties in preventing DEN infection in troops operating in field conditions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)89-94
Number of pages6
JournalAmerican Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume53
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1995
Externally publishedYes

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