In the latest World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation for
Dengvaxia implementation, either serological testing or a person's history of prior
dengue illness may be used as supporting evidence to identify dengue virus (DENV)-immune individuals eligible for vaccination, in areas with limited capacity for laboratory confirmation. This analysis aimed to estimate the concordance between self-reported
dengue illness histories and seropositivity in a prospective cohort study for dengue virus
infection in Kamphaeng Phet province, a
dengue-endemic area in northern Thailand. The study enrolled 2,076 subjects from 516 multigenerational families, with a median age of 30.6 years (range 0-90 years). Individual and family member
dengue illness histories were obtained by questionnaire. Seropositivity was defined based on hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) assays. Overall seropositivity for DENV was 86.5% among those aged 9-45 years, which increased with age. 18.5% of participants reported a history of
dengue illness prior to enrollment; 30.1% reported a previous DENV
infection in the family, and 40.1% reported DENV
infection in either themselves or a family member. Relative to seropositivity by HAI in the
vaccine candidate group, the sensitivity and specificity of individual prior
dengue illness history were 18.5% and 81.6%, respectively; sensitivity and specificity of reported
dengue illness in a family member were 29.8% and 68.0%, and of either the individual or a family member were 40.1% and 60.5%. Notably, 13.4% of individuals reporting prior
dengue illness were seronegative. Given the high occurrence of asymptomatic and mild DENV
infection, self-reported
dengue illness history is poorly sensitive for prior exposure and may misclassify individuals as 'exposed' when they were not. This analysis highlights that a simple, highly sensitive, and highly specific test for determining serostatus prior to
Dengvaxia vaccination is urgently needed.