Genome-wide association study identifies susceptibility loci for dengue shock syndrome

The first genome-wide association study for dengue shock syndrome (DSS) identified SNPs at two loci, MICB and PLCE1, associated with this disease. Previous epidemiological studies found that some groups of people are more susceptible to dengue shock syndrome, possibly pointing to a genetic influence. This study compared the genomes of 2,008 pediatric cases of DSS against 2,018 control genomes in Vietnam. Another GWAS study was performed after the first with 1,737 DSS patients against 2,934 controls in order to validate their results. Two loci, MICB and PLCE1, were found to be associated with DSS patients as opposed to the controls, which suggests that dengue susceptibility might be influenced by genetic factors.