Dengue Serotype Differences in Urban and Semi-rural Communities in Ecuador

Resumen

Dengue is a major vector-borne infection causing large outbreaks in urban communities in tropical regions. During the period 2010- 2014; 434 serum samples from febrile patients were collected from a semi-rural community hospital located in the norwestern region of Ecuador. Dengue virus (DENV) was investigated by reverse transcriptase PCR; a total of 48 samples were positive for dengue. During our study we detected DENV-2 and DENV-3 from 2010 to 2013 and the four DENV serotypes during the period 2013-2014. Surprisingly, our results contrasted with surveys carried out in urban centers throughout the Ecuadorian Coast in which DENV-1, DENV-2 and DENV-4 were prevalent during years 2010-2013 and only 2 serotypes (DENV-1 and DENV-2) in 2014.These results suggest that dengue viruses in semi-rural communities didn"™t originate in the Ecuadorian cities.