Chikungunya vs Dengue: How to Accurately Differentiate?
Release time：2025.07.31
Guangdong Foshan issued an announcement late last night (July 30), deciding to initiate a Level III emergency response for public health emergencies based on relevant emergency plans and the current chikungunya fever epidemic prevention and control situation.
To strengthen the prevention and control of mosquito-borne infectious diseases such as chikungunya fever and dengue fever in Foshan, quickly control adult mosquito density, and effectively cut off the transmission routes of the epidemic, Foshan will launch a one-week key adult mosquito elimination campaign citywide starting July 31.
Both chikungunya fever and dengue fever are acute infectious diseases transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. What are the differences between them, and what should be noted in diagnosis and prevention work?
Chikungunya Fever vs Dengue Fever
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|
Chikungunya Fever | Dengue Fever |
|---|---|---|
|
Transmission Routes |
Both are transmitted by Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. |
|
|
Pathogen |
Chikungunya virus, with only one serotype. |
Dengue virus, with four serotypes. |
|
Incubation Period |
Generally 1-12 days, mostly 3-7 days. |
Generally 1-14 days, mostly 5-9 days. |
|
Infectious Period |
Usually from the day of onset to 7 days after onset. |
Usually from 1 day before onset to 5 days after onset. |
|
Susceptible Population |
Generally susceptible; infection can confer long-lasting immunity. |
Generally susceptible; infection can confer long-lasting immunity to the same serotype but not effective protection against different serotypes. |
|
Epidemiological Characteristics |
Mainly occurs in the Americas, Asia, and Africa; no local endemic outbreaks have formed in China yet. |
Mainly occurs in Latin America, Western Pacific, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Mediterranean; multiple provinces in China including Guangdong, Yunnan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangxi, and Hainan have experienced imported cases leading to local dengue transmission outbreaks. |
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Clinical Features |
Sudden fever, joint pain, and rash. |
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|
Shorter fever period; migratory joint pain is more obvious and persistent; severe pain caused by pressure on wrist joints is an important feature; very few patients may have bleeding. |
Longer fever period; generalized muscle, bone, and joint pain; congestive rash or petechial rash on face and limbs; some patients may have varying degrees of bleeding manifestations. |
|
|
Laboratory Tests |
Antibody detection, nucleic acid testing, virus isolation. |
Antibody detection, antigen detection, nucleic acid testing, virus isolation. |
|
Treatment |
No specific antiviral treatment; mainly symptomatic treatment. |
No specific antiviral treatment; mainly symptomatic treatment; attention needed to prevent bleeding. |
*"Chikungunya Fever Prevention and Control Technical Guidelines (2025 Edition)"
*"Chikungunya Fever Diagnosis and Treatment Plan"
* "Dengue Fever Prevention and Control Plan (2025 Edition)"
*"Dengue Fever Diagnosis and Treatment Plan (2024 Edition)"
Dengue Fever Laboratory Tests
When treating dengue fever patients, aspirin, ibuprofen, and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be used cautiously to avoid worsening bleeding. Prevention and control work needs to target different pathogens. Multi-channel monitoring, case reporting, and public health emergency reporting are required. Therefore, accurate diagnosis of different pathogens is crucial for prevention and control work.
Previous articles have detailed chikungunya fever laboratory tests. Accurate diagnosis of chikungunya fever: key points of laboratory tests and Jin Hao testing plan. Today, we will compare and introduce dengue fever laboratory tests.
Common laboratory tests for dengue fever are also divided into these two aspects:
Serological tests: antibody detection.
Pathogen tests: nucleic acid testing, virus isolation and identification, antigen detection.
Because virus isolation and identification require high laboratory standards, complex operations, and are prone to contamination, most laboratories cannot meet the requirements; this article will not discuss it further.
Antibody Detection
Antibody detection is divided into serum-specific IgM antibody and serum-specific IgG antibody. 。
serum-specific IgM antibody IgM indicates recent or acute infection and is the earliest antibody produced after infection. In primary infection patients, IgM antibodies can be detected 3-5 days after onset, peaking at 2 weeks.
serum-specific IgG antibody. IgG indicates past infection, chronic infection, recovery phase, or immune protection, produced later than IgM after infection. IgG antibodies can be detected 1 week after onset, and high levels of IgG antibodies detected within 1 week of onset indicate secondary infection. 二次感染。
Common antibody detection methods include enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), colloidal gold immunochromatography, and immunofluorescence antibody assay (IFA). Among them, colloidal gold is more suitable for rapid screening due to its short detection time.
Positive serum-specific IgM antibody indicates recent dengue virus infection. Suitable for early diagnosis of dengue fever. Serum dengue virus IgG antibody seroconversion or a fourfold or greater increase in titer during the convalescent phase compared to the acute phase. Can be used as a basis for the diagnosis of dengue fever.
Nucleic acid testing.
Nucleic acid testing is a technique that directly detects the genetic material (DNA or RNA) of pathogens and is not exclusive to COVID-19 testing. It is one of the modern "gold standards" for diagnosing infectious diseases. "Gold standard" One of them.
Detection of dengue virus RNA from patient specimens. Can be used as a basis for the diagnosis of dengue fever.
Nucleic acid testing can also be used for Virus typing to confirm the dengue virus serotype infecting the patient.
In addition, nucleic acid testing can be performed on Aedes mosquito samples to understand the genetic diversity and transmission characteristics of the dengue virus, as well as the biological infection rate and viral load in the vector mosquitoes.
Antigen detection.
Commonly used NS1 antigen detection, generally within 5 days after onset, the detection rate of NS1 antigen in blood samples is high, suitable for on-site rapid testing.
Common antigen detection methods include enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and colloidal gold immunochromatography. Among them, colloidal gold is more suitable for rapid screening due to its short detection time.
Positive serum dengue virus antigen can be used as a basis for early diagnosis of dengue fever.
Jinhao Pharmaceutical has independently developed and produced 的
Chikungunya virus nucleic acid detection kit (fluorescent PCR method)
Chikungunya virus IgM/IgG antibody detection kit (colloidal gold method)
Chikungunya virus antigen detection kit (colloidal gold method)
Dengue virus nucleic acid detection kit (fluorescent PCR method) and typing detection kits
Dengue fever IgM/IgG antibody detection kit (colloidal gold method)
Dengue virus antigen detection kit (colloidal gold method)
and more vector-borne pathogen detection kits.
Also possesses Zika virus/Dengue virus/Chikungunya virus triple nucleic acid PCR detection kit (fluorescent PCR method) and other multi-channel combined detection kits, capable of distinguishing Chikungunya virus, Zika virus, and Dengue virus in a single tube.
Jinhao Pharmaceutical's complete vector-borne pathogen solution enables precise pathogen detection to support epidemic prevention and control efforts.
Through rapid and accurate laboratory testing, achieve " early detection, early reporting, early isolation, and early treatment" to effectively reduce the risk of epidemic spread.
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