Title : Prevalence and molecular detection of West Nile Virus (WNV) among renal transplant patients in Khartoum state, Sudan
Abstract:
Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is an arbovirus from the Flaviviridae family. West Nile now represents one of the most common arboviral diseases worldwide that causes febrile illness. Also, significant number of patients develop severe neurological disease including meningitis, encephalitis, and acute paralysis. This study was carried out to detect the frequency of West Nile virus IgM antibodies and virus nucleic acid among renal transplant patients in Khartoum state.
Methods: This was a descriptive study in which serum specimens were collected from 93 patient (68 male,25 female) and investigated for WNV specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) using enzyme- linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) and for WNV RNA using real time PCR (RT-PCR) The study group age ranged from 20 to 80 years old. Result: Out of the 93 patients tested, 7(7.5%) were positive for IgM and 86 (92.4%) were negative and no positive RTPCR results were recorded. Conclusion: The frequency of West Nile virus among renal transplant patients in Khartoum State ,Sudan was documented through detection of specific IgM antibodies
Keyword: West Nile Viruses (WNV), IgM. ELISA and Real-Time PCR
