Concepts of control of Japanese encephalitis and dengue.

Japanese encephalitis and dengue are mosquito-borne virus diseases of major human disease importance to the Asian region. Our current knowledge of their distribution and transmission cycles is reviewed, the classical approaches to their control are discussed. The development of live attenuated vaccines for both disease offers possible elimination of human epidemics through combined use of vaccine and mosquito control.

Antigen and antibody detection and update on the diagnosis of dengue.

The diagnosis of dengue is an imperfect science. By 1983 we had sensitive isolation systems including arthropods and arthropod cell cultures, specific-and group-reactive monoclonal antibodies, and a rapid and sensitive immunoassay for IgM and IgG. Progress in the past 7 years encompasses the use of monocyte lines for primary isolation, a more rapid plaque reduction neutralization test with BHK-21 cells, labeled RNA probes to detect dengue-specific nucleic acid, and improved ELISA technology with specific synthetic and engineered antigens.