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NEW DELHI: The first attack of dengue can be as life-threatening as subsequent ones, according to a study that challenges the widespread belief that the viral disease is serious only in secondary infections.
The research, recently published in the journal Nature Medicine, looked at severe cases of dengue in a group of children in India and showed that more than half could be attributed to a primary infection rather than a secondary infection.
Over the past two decades, dengue infections have increased sharply in India and the country has one of the highest numbers of cases globally.
Dengue patients are divided into two categories: those who experience infection for the first time, known as primary infections, and those who become reinfected after previous exposure, known as secondary infections.
The prevailing belief has been that only secondary infections pose significant risks, which has led to much of the research on vaccine development and treatment focusing on this group.
An international team led by researchers from the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), based in New Delhi, has discovered that not only secondary infections, but also primary ones, can be serious and endanger the lives of patients . .
The finding emphasizes the need to reevaluate the understanding of dengue and the strategies used to combat the viral disease caused by dengue virus (DENV), transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes.
“Dengue virus infection is a huge public health problem in India. Many patients develop severe disease which can sometimes also be fatal,” said the study’s lead author, Anmol Chandele of ICGEB.
“However, much of the ongoing research on vaccine interventions is based on the currently widely held global belief that primary dengue infections are usually not dangerous and that severe dengue disease is mainly due to secondary infections,” Chandele stated.
The study challenges this current belief and shows that primary infections constitute a substantial fraction of serious illnesses and deaths.
This finding has important implications for public health and for the development and implementation of effective and safe vaccine strategies to control dengue.
These findings are highly relevant not only in the Indian context but also on a global scale as dengue viruses continue to spread across the world.
Italy is a striking example of the spread of dengue, as also demonstrated by a recent study in which Alessandro Marcello, head of the ICGEB Molecular Virology laboratory operating in the Scientific Area of the Park in Trieste, Italy, collaborated.
“During 2023, in Italy we had the highest number of cases and indigenous transmissions of dengue so far. Climate change, above all, but also the movement of people, are the biggest contributors to the circulation of dengue in new areas. The study by our Indian colleagues shows us the need to protect our population also from the first encounter with the virus,” said Marcello.
For the study, Chandele collaborated with researchers from Emory School of Medicine, US, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, and National Academy of Health Sciences, St. John, Bengaluru.