[Quality control of the serological diagnosis of dengue in laboratories throughout the Americas, 1996-2001].

Objective: To report the results from participating laboratories for four external quality control proficiency tests of dengue serological diagnosis that were carried out in the Region of the Americas in the period of 1996-2001.

Methods: External quality control proficiency tests of dengue serological diagnosis were carried out in 1996-1997, 1998-1999, 1999-2000, and 2000-2001. Panels made up of 20 serum samples (12 of them positive for dengue IgM antibodies) were sent to participating laboratories in the Region.

Induction of neutralizing antibodies and partial protection from viral challenge in Macaca fascicularis immunized with recombinant dengue 4 virus envelope glycoprotein expressed in Pichia pastoris.

A recombinant vaccine that expresses the envelope (E) gene of dengue virus type 4 was tested for immunogenicity and protection in Macaca fascicularis. One hundred micrograms of semipurified recombinant E protein (E4rec) expressed in Pichia pastoris was used to immunize three animals. Neutralizing antibodies to dengue 4 virus with a titer of 1:30 were detected in all immunized monkeys prior to challenge.

Isolation and identification of adenovirus in hospitalized children, under five years, with acute respiratory disease, in Havana, Cuba.

Nine Adenovirus (Ad) strains isolated in Cuba, from 128 nasopharingeal swab specimens of children below five years old, with acute respiratory diseases, during 1996 and 1997, were studied by restriction enzyme analysis of genomic DNA with two endonucleases BamH I and Sma I. All different fragment patterns were compared with the respective prototypes. The identified adenoviruses were Ad 1 (n=4), Ad 2 (n=1) and Ad 6 (n=4).