Perera I, Weerathunga A, Arachchige N, Rajamanthri L, Fernando S, Muthugala R. Detection of dengue virus encephalitis in central part of Sri Lanka. World J Virol 2025; 14(4): 115071 [DOI: 10.5501/wjv.v14.i4.115071]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Rohitha Muthugala, MD, Consultant, Department of Molecular Biology, Medical Research Institute, No. 527 Dr. Danister De Silva Mawatha, Colombo 00800, Western, Sri Lanka. rohithavm@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Virology
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Study
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Dec 25, 2025 (publication date) through Dec 25, 2025
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Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Virology
ISSN
2220-3249
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Perera I, Weerathunga A, Arachchige N, Rajamanthri L, Fernando S, Muthugala R. Detection of dengue virus encephalitis in central part of Sri Lanka. World J Virol 2025; 14(4): 115071 [DOI: 10.5501/wjv.v14.i4.115071]
Inuri Perera, Sachini Fernando, Centre for Biotechnology, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda 10250, Western, Sri Lanka
Achini Weerathunga, Nipuni Arachchige, Rohitha Muthugala, Department of Molecular Biology, Medical Research Institute, Colombo 00800, Western, Sri Lanka
Lakmali Rajamanthri, Rohitha Muthugala, Department of Virology, National Hospital Kandy, Kandy 20000, Sri Lanka
Author contributions: Perera I and Muthugala R had conceptualized the study; Perera I, Weerathunga A, and Arachchige N were involved in investigation and formal analysis; Rajamanthri L had obtained clinical and laboratory data; Perera I conducted writing of initial draft and validation of data; Fernando S and Muthugala R reviewed and edit the manuscript; and all of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the National Hospital Kandy, approval No. NHK/ERC/11/2021.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was waived due to retrospective nature of the study. Data was analyzed anonymously.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: Preliminary is available with corresponding author and can be shared following reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Rohitha Muthugala, MD, Consultant, Department of Molecular Biology, Medical Research Institute, No. 527 Dr. Danister De Silva Mawatha, Colombo 00800, Western, Sri Lanka. rohithavm@yahoo.com
Received: October 13, 2025 Revised: November 19, 2025 Accepted: December 11, 2025 Published online: December 25, 2025 Processing time: 79 Days and 15.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
In tropical Asia, arbovirus-induced encephalitis continues to be a serious public health issue. Encephalitis is caused by wide range of neurotropic pathogens, and flaviviruses are one of the main causative agents in the area. Sri Lanka reports a considerable number of central nervous system infections annually. Both dengue and Japanese encephalitis are endemic, and cases of Zika and West Nile virus infections were reported occasionally in Sri Lanka. Although reported number of Japanese encephalitis cases has reduced in the past, aetiological diagnosis in majority of encephalitis cases is still unknown.
AIM
To detect dengue virus (DENV) infections in individuals in the central region of Sri Lanka who were clinically suspected of having encephalitis.
METHODS
A retrospective observational analysis was conducted on 99 cerebrospinal fluid samples received to a virology laboratory from patients in the central part of Sri Lanka who were clinically suspected of having encephalitis. Samples were analyzed using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with universal flavivirus primers to detect flaviviral RNA followed by DENV serotyping real-time RT-PCR, and an immunoglobulin M (IgM) detection enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect IgM antibodies indicative of a possible recent DENV infection.
RESULTS
DENV aetiology was detected in 6 (6.06%) cerebrospinal fluid samples, and all were confirmed as DENV infections. A single positive result (1.01%) was yielded through RT-PCR and was identified as DENV serotype 3. Serology testing detected 05 (5.05%) anti-dengue IgM positives and further investigation indicated probable DENV aetiology. Among positives 02 (33.33%) were children (aged less than 14 years), and rest were adults.
CONCLUSION
These findings underscore the presence of DENV-associated central nervous system infections and highlight the need for broader surveillance and more advanced diagnostic approaches in the future.
Core Tip: Encephalitis due to arbovirus infections is a significant public health problem in tropical Asia. Encephalitis is caused by wide range of neurotropic pathogens, and flaviviruses are one of the main causative agents in tropics. Sri Lanka reports a considerable number of central nervous system infections annually. Both dengue and Japanese encephalitis are endemic, and cases of Zika and West Nile virus infections were reported in Sri Lanka. This study describes dengue virus (DENV) infections in clinically suspected patients with encephalitis in the central part of the country. A retrospective observational analysis was conducted on 99 cerebrospinal fluid samples. One sample was positive for dengue serotype 3 RNA and five samples were positive for dengue immunoglobulin M indicating recent DENV infections. These findings highlight the presence of DENV central nervous system infections and emphasize the need for broader surveillance and advanced diagnostics in future.
