Come monsoon, it is time for the viruses that cause dengue, chikungunya and malaria to spike. In recent years, their prevalence in Hyderabad, as in the other parts of the country, has been quite high, in many cases even causing death.

Now, researchers from the University of Hyderabad (UoH) have identified all four strains that cause dengue fever. Their research findings have been published in the July edition of the Epidemiology and Infection journal.

The scientists claim that with a simple test, they can now identify the presence of one or more strains in a patient. If more strains exist, they complicate the symptoms and throw up challenges for treatment. The blood test simply gives a positive or negative result to the existence of the virus in a patient and is expensive, says Masturi Venkataramana, who led the research.

The major implication of the finding is the potential to develop a cost-effective diagnostic test that can help detect the strains and thereby improve the treatment. The researchers want to focus their energies on finding a candidate drug that can attack the virus and provide efficient control in the near future, Venkataramana says.

Dengue has emerged as a major public health concern worldwide, and the virus is transmitted by mosquitoes ( Aedes aegypti ). There are four serotypes of the virus (Den-1 to 4), which can cause mild to severe fever or potentially lethal complications such as hemorrhagic fever.

The Hyderabad study

The UoH scientists have spotted for the first time the circulation of all four serotypes of the virus. The symptoms of most of the patients were found to be complicated. The most important thing in the treatment regimen is the identification at an early stage of the strain/s responsible for dengue.

From this perspective, the situation is not encouraging in Hyderabad, the scientists say. In their survey, UoH found that hospitals were either ill-equipped or unwilling to do the precise test for the management of the viral disease. Consequently, the treatment gets complicated and expensive.

Under normal circumstances, secondary infections caused by different serotypes increases the chance of severe dengue. India is among the countries that has faced severe dengue outbreaks in recent years. Although the country is considered hyper-endemic with all four strains, there is limited data available regarding the strains circulating, especially from South India.

One remarkable finding of the study is the identification of Den-1 serotype for the first time in this region. The other strains are more or less similar to the virulent strains reported worldwide. Hence, the researchers conclude that simultaneous circulation of all serotypes led to increased co-infections and, consequently, to the severe manifestation of the disease in Hyderabad in 2014, when thousands were affected.

What the future holds

The research by the School of Life Sciences has been supported by the University and the UGC. “We received support from the DBT (Department of Biotechnology) and DST (Department of Science and Technology) to do further research. Our focus will be on coming up with alternative, cost-effective, diagnostic tests for dengue, zika and chikanguniya, whose viruses belong to the same family,” Venkataramana says.

There are also plans to establish a Centre for Diagnosing Viral Infections at the University.

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