Abstract

Purpose: Diagnosis of acute undifferentiated febrile illness (AUFI) has been a challenge and burden in clinical practice in the tropics. COVID-19 cases that present with fever alone may be difficult to distinguish from other AUFIs in the tropics. Malaria, Scrub Typhus and Dengue fever are among the most common endemic diseases in the tropics. With the availability of rapid sero-diagnostic tests for these infections, it has been observed that patient’s samples frequently show seropositivity for two or more infections posing challenges in clinical diagnosis and treatment. This study was performed to determine the false-positive serological test (seropositivity) in COVID-19 patients for Scrub typhus, Dengue and Malaria.
Materials and Methods: The present study was a type of observational prospective study conducted from April 2020 to November 2020. A total of 574 febrile patients which were positive in Real time PCR for Covid-19, were included in the study.
Results: Dengue IgM antibody positive for 124, Scrub typhus IgM antibody positive in 107 and no positive in malarial test, were found.
Conclusion: Our experience suggests that false-positive in the serological test should be interpreted with caution and requires surveillance. There should be a continuous follow-up of these patients during COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of recognising false positive serological results in patients with COVID-19, especially in the resource-constrained tropical settings.