NEW DELHI, India – In a significant move to combat the world’s fastest-spreading viral infection, dengue fever, the “COMBAT dengue” initiative is set to launch under the India-EU partnership within the Horizon Europe program. This collaborative project brings together leading researchers, clinicians, and technologists from both continents to address the severe impact of dengue, which affects nearly 400 million people annually, with India bearing a significant burden.
The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, will coordinate the COMBAT research initiative. The acronym, ‘Advancing Pandemic Preparedness Innovative Multidisciplinary Strategies for COMBATing Severe Dengue’, underscores the project’s broad ambitions. Dr. Ujjwal Neogi, Project Coordinator at the Karolinska Institute, emphasized the borderless nature of infectious diseases, stating, “The aim is to uncover the underlying mechanisms of severe dengue and reduce the disease burden. This can be done through innovation, precision medicine, and translational research, which will contribute to saving lives, protecting the brain, and strengthening preparedness for future outbreaks.” Dr. Neogi further highlighted that COMBAT is not merely a response to dengue but a crucial advancement in global health, integrating fundamental science Inndhjgdbjbjsdjsbdhsdbjbdjbfwith clinical and societal applications.
While dengue has historically been confined to tropical and subtropical regions, scientists involved in the project warn that climate change is increasing the risk of the disease in Europe. India has reported close to 12 lakh lab-confirmed dengue cases and over 1,650 deaths since 2019 until March this year, according to data from the National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control. However, experts like Dr. Swarup Sarkar of the World Health Organization, who advises the COMBAT project, noted that underreporting in India and other South Asian countries compounds the actual problem. Dr. Sarkar also stressed the need for “biomarkers to identify potential severe cases that would be helpful to reduce adverse outcomes due to dengue,” pending vaccine trial results and good clinical protocols.
The clinical aspects of the project will be spearheaded by Prof. Arindam Maitra from the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, West Bengal. Clinical samples will be collected from key sites in India with high dengue prevalence: Artemis Hospital and Max Hospital in New Delhi, and Kasturba Medical College Hospital in Mangaluru. These sites are crucial for generating scientific insights that will bolster India’s outbreak response and contribute to global knowledge, alongside cohorts in Guatemala. The data and findings are also expected to support the European Union’s efforts in enhancing pandemic preparedness against emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
Reimagining Dengue Research with Cutting-Edge Technologies
A defining feature of COMBAT is its integration of innovative and affordable high-end technologies rarely seen in virus research. The project will utilize brain organoids – miniature, lab-grown human brain-like tissues – to meticulously investigate how the dengue virus infiltrates the nervous system. Advanced super-resolution and photonic microscopy will allow scientists to visualize the virus’s actions within living cells. Furthermore, artificial intelligence will be employed to analyze complex patient data, aiming to discover biomarkers that can predict severe disease outcomes.
This multidisciplinary approach, a fusion of virology, physics, engineering, and data science, exemplifies the EU-India strategy of placing science at the nexus of innovation and accessibility.
The launch of COMBAT dengue comes at a pivotal moment in India-EU relations, following the recent renewal of their Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement until 2030. While dengue is the immediate focus, the platform being developed has wider applications. The technologies and workflows established under COMBAT, from multi-modal imaging to AI-integrated biological pipelines, are designed for rapid adaptability to other pathogens, offering a significant leap forward in global pandemic preparedness.
