In a first, Pune’s B J Government Medical College to undertake genome sequencing of dengue virus
The project is facilitated by the Pune Knowledge Cluster and supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.
Experts at the BJGMC will try to decipher the genetic material of the virus through the project. (Representational Photo) Can learnings from Covid genome sequencing and wastewater surveillance be leveraged to address the increasing problem of dengue? For the first time, concerted efforts have been taken under the aegis of the Pune Knowledge Cluster (PKC) — one of the six science and technology clusters established by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India — towards genomic sequencing of the dengue virus.
The B J Government Medical College (BJGMC) supported by the Rockefeller Foundation has taken up this ambitious project that has been facilitated by the PKC. Experts at the BJGMC will try to decipher the genetic material of the virus through the project.
“We want to track the spread of the viral infection, how it is changing and how this may affect public health,” Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, state coordinator for genomic sequencing, told The Indian Express.
Priyanki Shah, project manager of PKC said, “Sero surveys and genome sequencing strategies are being planned with multiple agencies coming together as a part of the efforts being facilitated by the PKC.”
According to the Maharashtra health department data, close to 5,000 cases of dengue viral infection have been reported from January till date this year with almost half of them from areas under Mumbai, Nagpur and Nashik municipal corporations.
Genome sequencing will involve analysing the genetic makeup of the virus while wastewater surveillance will monitor traces of the virus in wastewater, the experts shared. “We also plan to assess which among the diagnostic tests are most effective to pick up the dengue viral infection,” Dr Karyakarte said. This means comparing Elisa, RT-PCR and other tests. An on site study will also help the experts understand the prevalence of the dengue infection.
Here it may be recalled that as a part of their collaboration during the Covid pandemic, the PKC has set up an ecosystem that includes educational institutes, government agencies, international funding groups, research organisations, hospitals and laboratories. This collective effort has been instrumental in coordinating the collection, sequencing and reporting of Covid-19 samples in the Pune region.
“Hence we want to build on this approach and ecosystem developed for Covid-19 to address dengue viral infection,” Shah said. So, what is being planned is a comprehensive disease profile of dengue.
The PKC aims to create a comprehensive understanding of dengue by utilising serology data (data related to antibodies in the blood), genomic data (genetic information of the dengue virus) and disease prevalence data (how widespread the disease is in the population).
Early warning system for dengue
Plans are also underway to develop an early warning system for dengue. This system will not only provide real-time disease data but also utilise various parameters, both related to the disease and unrelated, to provide insights into Dengue trends and potential outbreaks.
When contacted, Prof L S Shashidhara, Director of NCBS-TIFR, Bengaluru, who is also one of the founders of the PKC, told The Indian Express, “Given frequent outbreaks of viral diseases, developing a robust early warning system will help mitigate the outbreaks before it becomes a health burden to save lives and livelihoods.”
“While researchers develop methodology and capacity to do the surveillance, in the long run, we hope that public health departments of the government will carry out the surveillance routinely,” Shashidhara added.
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