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Review
. 2023 Feb;95(2):e28557.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.28557.

Cross-reactivity of SARS-CoV-2 with other pathogens, especially dengue virus: A historical perspective

Debrupa Dutta  1 , Anisa Ghosh  2 , Chiroshri Dutta  2 , Soumi Sukla  1 , Subhajit Biswas  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Cross-reactivity of SARS-CoV-2 with other pathogens, especially dengue virus: A historical perspective

Debrupa Dutta et al. J Med Virol. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

Dengue is a vector-borne viral disease caused by a Flavivirus whereas the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a highly contagious virus, SARS-CoV-2 belonging to the family Coronaviridae. However, COVID-19 severity was observably less in dengue-endemic countries and vice versa especially during the active years of the pandemic (2019-2021). We observed that dengue virus (DENV) antibodies (Abs) could cross-react with SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen. This resulted in SARS-CoV-2 false positivity by rapid Ab test kits. DENV Abs binding to SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (and the reverse scenario), as revealed by docking studies further validated DENV and SARS-CoV-2 cross-reactivity. Finally, SARS-CoV-2 Abs were found to cross-neutralize DENV1 and DENV2 in virus neutralization test (VNT). Abs to other pathogens like Plasmodium were also cross-reactive but non-neutralizing for SARS-CoV-2. Here, we analyze the existing data on SARS-CoV-2 cross-reactivity with other pathogens, especially dengue to assess its impact on health (cross-protection?) and differential sero-diagnosis/surveillance.

Keywords: BCG; SARS-CoV-2; cross-reactivity; dengue; differential diagnosis; malaria.

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References

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