Despite the presence of dengue in Sri Lanka since the early 1960s, dengue has become a major public health issue, with a high morbidity and mortality. Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the vectors responsible for the transmission of dengue viruses (DENV). The four DENV serotypes (1, 2, 3, and 4) have been co-circulating in Sri Lanka for more than 30 years. The new genotype of DENV-1 has replaced an old genotype, and new clades of DENV-3 genotype III have replaced older clades. The emergence of new clades of DENV-3 in the recent past coincided with an abrupt increase in the number of dengue fever (DF)/dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) cases, implicating this serotype in severe epidemics. Climatic factors play a pivotal role in the epidemiological pattern of DF/DHF in terms of the number of cases, severity of illness, shifts in affected age groups, and the expansion of spread from urban to rural areas. There is a regular incidence of DF/DHF throughout the year, with the highest incidence during the rainy months. To reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with DF/DHF, it is important to implement effective vector control programs in the country. The economic impact of DF/DHF results from the expenditure on DF/DHF critical care units in several hospitals and the cost of case management.

Nucleic acid polymers (NAPs) are novel, broad-spectrum antiviral compounds that use the sequence-independent properties of phosphorothioate oligonucleotides (PS-ONs) as amphipathic polymers to block amphipathic interactions involved in viral entry. Using the duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) model of human hepatitis B virus infection, NAPs have been shown to have both entry and postentry antiviral activity against DHBV infection in vitro in primary duck hepatocytes (PDH). In the current study, various NAPs were assessed for their prophylactic activity in vivo against DHBV infection in ducks. The degenerate NAP REP 2006 prevented the development of widespread and persistent DHBV infection in 14-day-old ducks, while the acidic-pH-sensitive NAP REP 2031 had little or no prophylactic effect. REP 2006 displayed significant toxicity in ducks, which was attributed to CpG-mediated proinflammation, while REP 2031 (which has no CpG motifs) displayed no toxicity. A third NAP, REP 2055, which was designed to retain amphipathic activity at acidic pH and contained no CpG motifs, was well tolerated and displayed prophylactic activity against DHBV infection at doses as low as 1 mg/kg of body weight/day. These studies suggest that NAPs can be easily and predictably tailored to retain anti-DHBV activity and to have minimal toxic effects in vivo . Future studies are planned to establish the therapeutic efficacy of NAPs against persistent DHBV infection.

Dengue is one of the major hurdles to the public health in Sri Lanka, causing high morbidity and mortality. The present study focuses on the use of geographical information systems (GIS) to map and evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of dengue in Sri Lanka from 2009 to 2014 and to elucidate the association of climatic factors with dengue incidence. Epidemiological, population and meteorological data were collected from the Epidemiology Unit, Department of Census and Statistics and the Department of Meteorology of Sri Lanka. Data were analyzed using SPSS (Version 20, 2011) and R studio (2012) and the maps were generated using Arc GIS 10.2. The dengue incidence showed a significant positive correlation with rainfall (p<0.0001). No positive correlation was observed between dengue incidence and temperature (p = 0.107) or humidity (p = 0.084). Rainfall prior to 2 and 5 months and a rise in the temperature prior to 9 months positively correlated with dengue incidence as based on the auto-correlation values. A rise in humidity prior to 1 month had a mild positive correlation with dengue incidence. However, a rise in humidity prior to 9 months had a significant negative correlation with dengue incidence based on the auto-correlation values. Remote sensing and GIS technologies give near real time utility of climatic data together with the past dengue incidence for the prediction of dengue outbreaks. In that regard, GIS will be applicable in outbreak predictions including prompt identification of locations with dengue incidence and forecasting future risks and thus direct control measures to minimize major outbreaks.

Circulation of multiple dengue virus (DENV) serotypes in a locale has resulted in individuals becoming infected with mixed serotypes. This research was undertaken to study the clinical presentation, presence of DENV serotypes and serological characteristics of DENV infected patients with co-infections from three Provinces of Sri Lanka where DENV-1 and -2 predominated during the study. A reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed on 1249 patient samples and 301 were positive for DENV (24.1%). DENV-1 was the predominant serotype detected in 137 (45.51%) followed by DENV-2 in 65 (21.59%), DENV-3 in 59 (19.6%) and DENV-4 in 4 (1.32%) patients with mono-infections. Thirty-three patients (10.96%) had DENV co-infections with two or more serotypes. The highest number of co-infections was noted between DENV-1 and DENV-2 (57.57%) suggesting co-infection is driven by the frequency of the circulating serotypes. Platelet counts were significantly higher in DENV co-infected patients although clinical disease severity or white blood cell count, packed cell volume or viraemia were not significantly different in the co-infected compared to the mono-infected patients. Thus co-infection with multiple DENV serotypes does occur but with the exception of improved platelet counts in co-infected patients, there is no evidence that clinical or laboratory measures of disease are altered.