Finding the right tests…
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Finding the right tests…
ELISA
Dengue ELISA IgG checks your blood, using a laboratory ELISA plate test rather than a rapid card, for the antibody your body builds days after a dengue infection and keeps for years afterward. On its own, a positive IgG usually means you were infected with dengue at some point in the past, not that you are sick with dengue right now. Doctors order it alongside IgM and NS1 when someone has fever during a dengue season, because the pattern across all three, not IgG by itself, tells them whether this looks like a first dengue infection or a repeat one.
This is an ELISA-based blood test read on a laboratory plate reader, reported as reactive or non-reactive, sometimes with an index or optical density value. Because IgG builds up over the first two weeks of illness and then persists for years, it is most informative when read together with IgM and NS1 results from the same illness, rather than as a standalone answer. Reference cut-offs vary by lab and kit, so your report will state its own values.
Dengue IgG antibody takes longer to show up than NS1 antigen or IgM. Studies following primary dengue infections found IgG becomes detectable around day 5 of illness at low levels, then climbs to be detectable in essentially everyone by around day 15. Once it appears, it stays in your blood for years, so a positive IgG on its own only tells your doctor that you were exposed to dengue at some point, not when.
What makes this test genuinely useful is the pattern it shows in a second dengue infection. If you've had dengue before, a new infection triggers a much faster, higher IgG response than a first infection does, sometimes appearing within days. Comparing IgG levels against IgM and NS1 results in the same blood draw lets your doctor tell a probable first-time (primary) infection from a repeat (secondary) one, a distinction that matters because secondary dengue infections carry a higher risk of the severe, plasma-leaking form of the disease.
Because it uses the ELISA method read on a lab plate reader rather than a bedside rapid test, results usually take longer to come back but tend to be more consistently reproducible across samples.
Not necessarily. A positive IgG usually means you were infected with dengue at some point in the past, since the antibody stays in your blood for years. Your doctor reads it alongside IgM, NS1, and your current symptoms to judge whether this is a new infection.
This version is run as an ELISA test on a laboratory plate reader rather than a bedside strip, which generally gives a more precise, lab-verified result, though it can take a bit longer to process.
In a repeat dengue infection, IgG rises faster and higher than in a first infection. Comparing IgG against IgM and NS1 helps your doctor judge whether this looks like a primary or secondary infection.
This page is general information about the test, not medical advice. Your own report's reference ranges apply — please discuss your results with your doctor.
It generally stays detectable for years after infection, which is why a single IgG result cannot show when the infection happened.
This is specifically the ELISA-format version of dengue IgG, run on a laboratory plate reader, which can differ in method from other dengue tests offered elsewhere. Ask your doctor or the centre if you're unsure which one your prescription calls for.
Antibody tests for flaviviruses, the family dengue belongs to, can sometimes show cross-reactivity with related viruses. Your doctor factors in your travel and vaccination history when reading a positive result.
Ask your doctor or the centre about preparation; this is a standard blood draw, but confirm before your visit.