Long-term seroprevalence studies of
dengue have provided a measure of the degree of endemicity and future trends in disease prevalence and severity. In this study, we describe the seroprevalence of
dengue antibodies in febrile persons with suspected acute
dengue in Barbados. It is a retrospective population-based study of all febrile persons with suspected
dengue from 2006 to 2013. All of the cases had
IgM and
IgG antibodies in the blood sample drawn between days 3 and 5 of their illness. Among the 8296 cases that were tested for
IgM antibodies, 3037 (36.6%) had recent
dengue infection. In the age groups <5 years, 5-20 years and >20 years, 23.3%, 39.6% and 35.5% had acute
infection, respectively. Of the 7227 cases with documented
IgG results, 5473 (75.7%) were positive and had a past
infection. In the age groups <5 years, 5-20 years and >20 years, 31.2%, 65.2% and 86.6%, respectively, had a past
infection (
IgG positive). During the first 5 years of life, 10-20% of febrile persons investigated for
dengue had a positive
IgM and a negative
IgG titer, between 5 and 10% had a positive
IgM and
IgG titer, 5% had a positive
IgG and a negative
IgM titer, and between 45% and 65% had a negative
IgM and a negative
IgG titer. Throughout the study period, between 12% and 20% of febrile persons failed to show any evidence of current or previous
dengue. In the age groups <5 years, 5-20 years and >20 years, 45.0%, 18.8% and 7.2%, respectively, had no evidence of recent or past
dengue (both
IgM and
IgG negative). Between 37% and 59% of the febrile persons had serological evidence of past
dengue in the absence of any current
dengue. In conclusion, the pattern of
IgG antibodies in this study was comparable to those in countries known to be hyperendemic for
dengue. The age of
infection is likely to shift to younger adults and children who are more likely to have
severe dengue in the future.