{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T08:55:11Z","timestamp":1781772911454,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781740800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Dengue virus infection remains a significant public health challenge in endemic regions, with growing evidence of autochthonous transmission in Europe. Assessing serological exposure in high-risk populations such as military personnel deployed to endemic areas is essential to quantify exposure risk and support operational decision-making, particularly regarding pre-deployment counselling and risks associated with secondary infection. We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 1355 members of the Italian Armed Forces, measuring anti-dengue IgG antibodies by ELISA and collecting data on deployment history and exposure risk. Overall, IgG seropositivity was 8.12%, with significantly higher prevalence among individuals reporting travel or deployment to endemic regions (24.71%) compared with non-exposed personnel (4.27%). Seropositivity increased with age and correlated with a CDC-derived cumulative dengue risk score (Spearman\u2019s \u03c1 = 0.299, p &lt; 0.0001). A multivariable logistic regression model including age and exposure risk achieved an AUC of 0.75, while machine-learning models provided complementary predictive assessment, with random forest reaching an AUC of 0.79. These findings indicate substantial anti-dengue IgG seropositivity compatible with previous dengue exposure among Italian military personnel, particularly those deployed to endemic settings. The study highlights the need for targeted surveillance and risk-based preventive strategies, and supports the use of exposure-based models to improve epidemiological assessment and inform vaccination strategies in mobile populations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed11060167","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T07:33:54Z","timestamp":1781768034000},"page":"167","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Anti-Dengue IgG Seroprevalence and Exposure-Related Risk in Italian Military Personnel Deployed on Overseas Missions: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5985-3767","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Ciammaruconi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Defence Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 00184 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Rocchetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Defence Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 00184 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Filippo","family":"Molinari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Defence Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 00184 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6133-1522","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elisa","family":"Recchia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Defence Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 00184 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche, Universit\u00e0 di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nathalie","family":"Totaro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Defence Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 00184 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Dipartimento di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Pascolini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Defence Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 00184 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche e Medicina Traslazionale, Universit\u00e0 di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Silvia","family":"Chimienti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Defence Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 00184 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche e Medicina Traslazionale, Universit\u00e0 di Roma Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6849-3804","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giovanni","family":"Faggioni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Defence Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 00184 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Riccardo","family":"De Santis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Defence Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 00184 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3316-8937","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Filippo","family":"Moramarco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Defence Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 00184 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alberto","family":"Autore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Italian Air Force, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Florigio","family":"Lista","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Defence Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 00184 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"453","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(14)60572-9","article-title":"Dengue","volume":"385","author":"Guzman","year":"2015","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Merakou, C., Amendola, A., Fortuna, C., Marsili, G., Fiorentini, C., Argentini, C., Benedetti, E., Rezza, G., Maraglino, F., and Del Manso, M. 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