Dengue Fever Testing
- Also Known As:
- Dengue Fever Antibodies
- Dengue Fever Virus
- Formal Name:
- Dengue Antibodies (IgG
- IgM)|Dengue Virus by PCR

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At a Glance
Why Get Tested?
To diagnose dengue fever, particularly if you are experiencing fever after travel to a tropical or subtropical destination
When To Get Tested?
When you develop a high fever within 2 weeks of travel to an area where dengue fever is endemic or an outbreak is occurring
Sample Required?
A blood sample drawn from a vein in your arm
Test Preparation Needed?
None
What is being tested?
Dengue fever is a viral infection transmitted to humans by mosquitoes that live in tropical and subtropical climates and carry the virus. Blood testing detects the dengue virus or antibodies produced in response to dengue infection.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), dengue infections have been reported in more than 100 countries from parts of Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific. It is a fast emerging infectious disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with an increasing number of cases and countries affected throughout the world. The actual number is not known because about 75% of cases are asymptomatic, but a recent estimate put the number of annual dengue infections as high as 390 million. Approximately 50 to 100 million symptomatic cases occur annually worldwide.
In the U.S., the majority of dengue cases occur in travelers returning from areas where dengue is endemic. Most dengue cases in U.S. citizens occur in people who live in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Samoa and Guam. Outbreaks where a large number of cases occur in a defined area are rare in the U.S. In recent years, there have been small outbreaks in Texas and Hawaii and a few cases diagnosed in southern Florida.
Many individuals will develop no symptoms at all, or have only a mild illness when exposed to one of the four serotypes (1-4) of the dengue virus. For those who do develop symptoms, prognosis is still very good for full recovery within a few weeks. The most common initial symptoms are a sudden high fever (104°F or 40°C) and flu-like symptoms that appear roughly 4 to 7 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito (this is called the incubation period and can range from 3 to 14 days). Additional signs and symptoms may include severe headache, especially behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, skin rash, nausea, vomiting, and swollen glands.
Some people who develop a fever will recover on their own with no lasting ill effects while others may progress to severe dengue fever (sometimes called Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever). If the disease progresses to this form, a new wave of symptoms will appear 3 to 7 days after initial symptoms and as the fever recedes. These may include nose bleeds, vomiting blood, passing blood in the stool, difficulty breathing and cold clammy skin, especially in the extremities. During the second phase, the virus may attack blood vessels (the vascular system), causing capillaries to leak fluid into the space around the lungs (pleural effusion) or into the abdominal cavity (ascites).
The loss of blood and fluid during the second phase, if untreated, can worsen and can be fatal. In order to avoid that complication (sometimes called Dengue Shock Syndrome), a healthcare practitioner may hospitalize a patient with severe dengue fever so that falling blood pressure and dehydration caused by the loss of blood and fluids can be managed while the disease runs its course – generally a period of one to two weeks. During the following week of recovery, a person may develop a second rash that lasts a week or more.
Dengue fever is usually diagnosed via some combination of blood tests because the body’s immune response to the virus is dynamic and complex. Laboratory tests may include:
- Molecular tests for dengue virus (PCR)—detect the presence of the virus itself; these tests can diagnose dengue fever up to 7 days after the onset of symptoms and can be used to determine which of the 4 different serotypes of dengue virus is causing the infection.
- Antibody tests, IgM and IgG—detect antibodies produced by the immune system when a person has been exposed to the virus; these tests are most effective when performed at least 4 days after exposure.
- Complete blood count (CBC)—to look for low platelet count typical of the later stages of the illness and to detect the decrease in hemoglobin, hematocrit, and red blood cell (RBC) count (evidence of anemia) that would occur with blood loss associated with severe dengue fever
- Basic metabolic panel (BMP) – to monitor kidney function and look for evidence of dehydration that can occur with severe illness
Common Questions
Related Content
On This Site
Tests: Arbovirus Testing, West Nile Virus Testing, Zika Virus Testing, Complete Blood Count, Electrolytes
Elsewhere On The Web
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Dengue Map
CDC: How to reduce your risk while visiting areas with dengue
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: Dengue Fever
World Health Organization: Dengue
View Sources
Sources Used in Current Review
(2016 July Updated). Dengue and severe dengue. World Health Organization Fact sheet. Available online at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs117/en/. Accessed on 1/22/17.
Shepherd, S. and Hinfey, P. (2015 October 5 Updated). Dengue. Medscape Drugs and Diseases. Available online at http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/215840-overview#showall. Accessed on 1/22/17.
Couturier, M. and Hillyard, D. (2016 December Updated). Dengue Fever Virus. ARUP Consult. Available online at https://arupconsult.com/content/dengue-fever-virus. Accessed on 1/22/17.
(© 1995–2017). Dengue Virus Antibody/Antigen Panel, Serum. Mayo Clinic Mayo Medical Laboratories. Available online at http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/test-catalog/Overview/62869. Accessed on 1/22/17.
Hata, D. J. (2014 June). Dengue Fever – An Update. Mayo Clinic Mayo Medical Laboratories Hot Topics. Available online at http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/articles/hot-topic/2014/06-01-dengue-fever/index.html. Accessed on 1/22/17.
(2013 April 12). CDC DENV-1-4 Real-Time RT-PCR Assay for Detection and Serotype Identification of Dengue Virus. CDC. Available online at https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/resources/rt-pcr/cdcpackageinsert.pdf. Accessed on 1/22/17.
(2016 January 20 Updated). Dengue Laboratory Guidance and Diagnostic Testing. CDC. Available online at https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/clinicallab/laboratory.html. Accessed on 1/22/17.
(February 7, 2016) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. Revised diagnostic testing for Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses in US Public Health Laboratories. Available online at https://www.cdc.gov/zika/pdfs/denvchikvzikv-testing-algorithm.pdf. Accessed March 2017.
Sources Used in Previous Reviews
De Paula, S. and Fonseca, B. (2004). Dengue: a review of the laboratory tests a clinician must know to achieve a correct diagnosis. The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases: an Official Publication of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases. Available online at http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/15880229. Accessed June 2013.
Lima, M. et al. (2010). Comparison of three commercially available Dengue NS1 Antigen Capture Assays for acute diagnosis of Dengue in Brazil. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Available online at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2897844/. Accessed 5/30/2013.
Rathakrishnan, A., Sekaran, S. (2013). New development in the diagnosis of dengue infections. Expert Opinion on Medical Diagnostics. Available online at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23530846. Accessed 6/1/2013.
Sood, R. (© 2006). Textbook of Medical Laboratory Technology. Jaypee Brothers Publishers. New Dehli, India. Pp 780-787.
World Health Organization. (2009) Dengue Guidelines for Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention and Control. PDF available for download at http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241547871_eng.pdf. Accessed 5/15/2013.
(October 5, 2010) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dengue. Available online at http://www.cdc.gov/Dengue/. Accessed June 2013.
Cuzzubo A, et al. Use of Recombinant Envelope Proteins for Serological Diagnosis of Dengue Virus Infection in an Immunochromatographic Assay. Clin Vaccine Immunol November 2001 vol. 8 no. 6 1150-1155. Available online at http://cvi.asm.org/content/8/6/1150.full. Accessed June 2013.
(September 30, 2011) Mayo Clinic. Dengue Fever. Available online at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dengue-fever/DS01028. Accessed June 2013.
(January 23, 2013) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dengue Fever. Available online at http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/denguefever/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed June 2013.
CDC. 2012 Yellow Book. Dengue Fever & Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. Available online at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2012/chapter-3-infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/dengue-fever-and-dengue-hemorrhagic-fever. Accessed July 2013.
Florida Department of Health. Dengue Fever. Available online at http://www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/medicine/arboviral/Dengue.html. Accessed July 2013.
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