As it races against time to achieve the goal of zero deaths due to dengue by 2030 amid  rising number of  vector-borne cases, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is in the process of launching a slew of studies to analyse various aspects of the  disease, including research as the vector is constantly changing its strain.

“As the vector is changing, we need to find solutions to tackle it,” said Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research and Director General, ICMR recently at a symposium organised in partnership with Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) on May 16.

“We are also working on the first dengue vaccine, but there is a need for affordable molecular-based point-of-care diagnostics,” said Dr Bahl.

DNDi and THSTI are working towards finding a treatment for dengue, and he believes that we can find solutions if we use our mind like we did in Covid.

The strategic framework and roadmap for dengue control in India has the goal of zero deaths due to dengue by 2030. According to data from the NCVBDC, in 2022 there were 2.3 lakh reported infections in the country and 303 deaths. The most deaths were reported from Punjab.

Anu Nagar, joint secretary, ICMR, emphasized the need for more sensitive and easily available rapid test kits to test dengue while Dr Tanu Jain, Director, National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control  talked about the challenges in containing dengue and the need for early diagnosis to prevent it from developing into a severe disease.

“Early diagnosis is important to prevent dengue from developing into a serious disease. We are soon going to launch updated guidelines to tackle dengue,” she said.

Dr Kalpana Barua, Former Additional Director, NCVBDC, spoke about the strategic framework and roadmap for dengue control in India, with an ambitious goal of zero deaths by 2030 while Dr Nivedita Gupta, Head, Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, ICMR, spoke about the need and challenges of developing a safe and effective dengue vaccine.

She shared details on the different live attenuated vaccine candidates for dengue and how ICMR is supporting the Indian vaccine industry in their clinical development plan and leading the conduct of clinical trials of these candidates for testing efficacy in adults and paediatric populations.

Dr Kavita Singh, Director, DNDi-South Asia, talked about DNDi’s initiative- Dengue alliance. It is aglobal partnership led by institutions from dengue-endemic countries that aims to develop affordable and accessible treatments for dengue.

As per Dr Himmat Singh, Scientist, ICMR-NIMR stressed on the importance of control measures in tackling this virus given that a single aedes aegypti can infect 85 people at one go and spread the disease so quickly.