Why is India’s dengue virus mix becoming more dangerous? | Explained
A two-year surveillance study by the ICMR reveals that India is facing a 'hyperendemic' dengue situation with multiple virus serotypes circulating simultaneously. This complexity increases the risk of severe illness and complicates efforts to develop effective vaccination strategies.
Why it matters
Understanding the evolution of dengue strains is critical for public health policy and the development of medical interventions to prevent severe outbreaks.
The story so far: India’s dengue epidemic is entering a more complex phase, with multiple virus strains now circulating simultaneously across much of the country, notes a two-year nationwide surveillance study by the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL). Experts warn that this pattern, known as hyperendemic transmission, can increase the risk of severe illness, make outbreaks more difficult to predict and complicate future vaccination strategies.
The findings offer a clear picture of how dengue is evolving in India and why these matters for outbreaks, severe disease, and future vaccination policy.
The study titled: “Pan-India Molecular Surveillance of Dengue Serotypes, 2023–2025”— notes that India is entering a new epidemiological phase with multiple existing virus strains now circulating together across much of the country.
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