First outbreak of dengue fever in East Sikkim in Northeastern part of India

BACKGROUND: Dengue viruses, single-stranded positive polarity ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses of the family Flaviviridae, are the most common cause of arboviral disease in the world and has turned this disease into a serious public health problem. AIMS: To study retrospectively the incidence of laboratory confirmed dengue cases among the clinically suspected patients, the clinical profile of dengue-positive cases, and to co-relate with the environmental conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five hundred and eighty blood sample was collected in the microbiology laboratory of district hospital Singtam, from clinically suspected cases of dengue infection, from 22(nd) August 2013 till 30(th) November 2013 for rapid dengue kit test initially followed by confirmation test by Immunoglobulin M (IgM) capture ELISA test. CONCLUSIONS: Fever with myalgia should be evaluated for Dengue fever (DF) in Sikkim, northeastern part of India. We also report the first outbreak of dengue fever in the east district (Singtam) of Sikkim.