Seropositivity to Dengue virus (DENV) in three neighborhoods in the periphery of a city with a recent history of outbreaks in Argentina: what can we learn from unreported cases?

Background Argentina has experienced several dengue outbreaks since its reemergence in 1998, but cases are underreported due to asymptomatic infections and inadequate access to the healthcare system, particularly in marginalized neighborhoods.

Between December 2019 and March 2020, we assessed seroprevalence of DENV in three neighborhoods in the periphery of the city of Santa Fe. Serum samples were obtained from one adult per household and analyzed by ELISA for DENV IgG antibodies. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze seropositivity by demographic, socio-economic and environmental variables.

From 184 participants,overall seroprevalence was 15.2% (95% CI: 10.7; 21.1%). Proximity to a vacant lot decreased the likelihood of seropositivity by 65% (OR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.15; 0.80). This aligns with studies suggesting vegetation cover can reduce vector abundance and that DENV transmission is higher in densely populated urban areas. Surprisingly, knowledge of disease symptoms and transmission was not linked to lower seropositivity, echoing findings from other studies.

These findings contribute to building consensus on the factors that increase DENV infection and will be valuable in designing public health interventions in vulnerable neighborhoods during dengue outbreaks. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement This research was funded by the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion (ANPCYT), ANPCyT awarded to MAP y DAM (Grant number PICT 2017-4280, 2017), by the Universidad Nacional del Litoral awarded to MAP y DAM (Grant number 50320190100015LI, 2017) and by the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). The funders had no role in study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Ethics and Security Advisory Committee in Research of the School of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences of the Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina gave ethical approval for this work (Act Number 03.17). I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Data Availability All data produced are available online at Mendicino, D., Ricardo, T., Cristaldi, M., Maglianesi, M., Guzman, G., Claussen, S., Chiaraviglio, R. G., AVALOS, C., & Previtali, M. A. (2024). Data for Seropositivity to Dengue virus DENV in three neighborhoods in the periphery of a city with a recent history of outbreaks in Argentina: what can we learn from unreported cases? (version1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11507563