As India prepares to roll out its first dengue vaccine as early as next year, the country's first nationwide mapping of dengue virus strains has found that all four serotypes are circulating simultaneously in eight states and Union Territories, a finding that researchers say could shape vaccination strategy since infections involving multiple strains are linked to more severe disease, according to Anuja Jaiswal's Times of India report.
The pan-India molecular surveillance study, conducted by the ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, analysed 6,889 laboratory-confirmed dengue samples collected through 45 Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDLs) across 25 states and Union Territories between 2023 and 2025. The analysis found that at least two dengue serotypes were co-circulating in every state and UT covered under the surveillance, pointing to increasing hyperendemicity of dengue in India.
