Improved molecular detection of dengue virus serotype 1 variants

The dengue virus molecular typing method described by Lanciotti and coworkers (R. S. Lanciotti, C. H. Calisher, D. J. Gubler, G. J. Chang, and A. Vance-Vorndam, J. Clin. Microbiol. 30:545-551, 1992) is used worldwide for diagnosis and surveillance. However, it failed to detect DENV-1 variants in Cambodia due to a point mutation. We describe an improvement of the method that allows the detection of additional DENV-1 strains, including potential variants.