The RT-LAMP assay developed in this study has potential use for early clinical diagnosis, serotyping and surveillance of DENV infection in endemic countries such as India.
The combination of RT-LAMP with the dengue IgM and IgG ELISA increased detection of acute DENV infection to 97.7% (167/171), in comparison to only 70.8% (121/171) when dengue IgM and IgG ELISA alone were used.
The amplified products (the reverse-transcription and amplification of dengue virus serotype-2 RNA via RT-LAMP) in this study were subsequently fluorescently labeled in paper-based test zones (on our paper-based diagnostic device), thus fluorescent probes were used to perform the diagnosis of dengue fever, specific to serotype-2.
None of the serum samples from healthy individuals screened in this study showed any cross-reaction with the four dengue virus serotype-specific RT-LAMP assay primers.