Persistence of Neutralizing Antibody Against Dengue Virus 2 After 70 Years from Infection in Nagasaki

This study aimed to investigate the duration of humoral immune responses to dengue virus (DENV) infection in Japanese who experienced acute febrile illness with hemorrhagic manifestations 70 years ago, when an epidemic of dengue occurred in Nagasaki, Japan, from 1942 to 1944. A Japanese volunteer requested serological diagnosis of DENV infection in 2014 and donated blood sample to measure the antibody titer against DENV by antiflavi IgG indirect ELISA, focus reduction neutralization test, and plaque reduction neutralization test. The serum sample of the volunteer was positive in flavi IgG ELISA and it indicated primary infection. In the neutralization test, the highest neutralizing titer was ≥218 for DENV-2. We report here the existence of DENV-specific antibodies in the serum of a person after 70 years from infection. Published reports indicated that DENV-1 was responsible for the 1942-1944 outbreak in Nagasaki. However, our data suggested that DENV-2 also played a role in this Nagasaki dengue epidemic.