Dengue is spreading fast: Can science outsmart it at last?, Pg14

Key Highlights:

• COMBAT, an Indo-EU research alliance, is employing advanced technologies to study dengue and improve treatment and vaccine development.
• Single-cell sequencing and advanced protein biomarker analysis are being used to understand, diagnose, and treat dengue.
• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is conducting Phase III trials of Dengvaxia, a single-dose recombinant dengue vaccine, across 20 sites in India.
• Takeda’s tetravalent dengue vaccine TAK-003 (Qdenga) has been cleared in India for individuals aged four to 60 years, showing 84.1% efficacy against hospitalized dengue cases.

Detailed Insights:

• COMBAT aims to strengthen public health infrastructure and surveillance strategies to tackle dengue outbreaks in endemic and non-endemic regions by decoding dengue infection mechanisms.
• Researchers are using high-resolution microscopy to observe the virus attacking cells in real-time and developing organ-on-chip models to study infection safely without human testing.
• Dengvaxia trials have enrolled over 10,300 participants across 11 states and Union Territories in India.
• Antibody-dependent enhancement and the existence of four distinct dengue serotypes pose challenges to developing an effective dengue vaccine.
• The Department of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology supports India's contribution to the COMBAT project.

Scientific/Technical Concepts Involved:

• Single-cell sequencing: A method to analyze the genetic material of individual cells, providing detailed insights into cellular processes.
• Advanced protein biomarker analysis: Scanning thousands of biological signals in a single blood test.
• Antibody-dependent enhancement: A phenomenon where antibodies worsen disease severity upon subsequent infection with a different strain.
• Organ-on-chip models: Miniature versions of human organs used to study infections without testing on people.