Conference Abstract | Volume 9 (ConfPro8): Abstract 11 | Published: 05 Oct 2026
Chalachew Sisay 1,2, &, Netsanet Worku3, Tadesse Awoke4, Kassahun Alemu4
1Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia, 2Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 3Department of Human Nutrition, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia, 4Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia
&Corresponding author: Chalachew Sisay, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Email: chalesisay19@gmail.com
Received: 11 Mar 2026, Accepted: 29 Aug 2026, Published: 05 Oct 2026
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Dengue, performance, NS1, sensitivity, predictive value, Ethiopia
©Chalachew Sisay et al., Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Chalachew Sisay et al., Diagnostic performance of the Dengue NS1 Ag rapid test during early-stage infections at epidemic-affected health care facilities in Northeastern and Eastern Ethiopia. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfPro8):11. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO8-0011
Early detection of dengue Non-Structural Protein 1 (NS1) antigen is essential for timely diagnosis. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) remains the diagnostic gold standard but is costly and resource intensive. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) offer a practical alternative, though they require continuous validation against reference assays such as the Trioplex real-time-PCR This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of the STANDARD™ Q Dengue NS1 antigen RDT compared with the CDC Trioplex real-time‑PCR assay for early dengue detection in epidemic‑affected healthcare facilities in Northeastern and Eastern Ethiopia between April and August 2024.
A cross‑sectional diagnostic accuracy study was conducted among 339 febrile patients over one year of age, suspected of dengue infection within five days of symptom onset. Diagnostic performance was analyzed using Bayesian spatio‑temporal modeling to account for spatial and temporal variation, alongside with contingency table analyses. Metrics included sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, overall accuracy, likelihood ratios, ROC area, and Cohen’s kappa.
Most participants were urban residents (90%) and aged 20–29 years. The NS1 Ag RDT demonstrated 82.9% overall accuracy, with sensitivity of 82.6% (95% CI: 76.3–87.8) and specificity of 83.2% (95% CI: 76.4–88.7). Positive and negative predictive values were 85.4% (95% CI: 79.3–90.2) and 80.1% (95% CI: 73.1–86.0), respectively. The positive likelihood ratio was 4.92, ROC area was 0.829, and Cohen’s kappa indicated substantial agreement (κ = 0.65). Test positivity peaked on illness days two and three, with regional variation across Somali and Dire Dawa.
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