Teams from various departments have sprung into action to prevent and control vector-borne diseases like dengue, malaria, and chikungunya, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta convened an emergency review meeting on Wednesday to discuss the prevention of dengue, malaria and chikungunya in the capital amid the rainy season in the region, which sees a rise in vector-borne diseases. The chief minister directed that residents should be issued two warnings before being fined for mosquito breeding. She instructed officials to begin the fogging campaign ahead of schedule. So far, fogging has been carried out in 500,000 homes.
Drive in Delhi to curb dengue cases Larvae were found in 71,000 houses and subsequently destroyed. As part of biological control measures, larvivorous fish have been released at 279 locations. Teams from various departments have sprung into action to prevent and control vector-borne diseases like dengue, malaria, and chikungunya. In the capital, extensive campaigns such as door-to-door visits, mosquito-repellent spraying, and biological control measures are being rapidly implemented. Cleanliness and awareness drives are being prioritised in schools, colonies, and public places,” she wrote in a post on X.
The health of Delhiites is our government’s greatest responsibility and foremost commitment, she added. Dengue vaccine trials in India The enrolment of approximately 10,500 participants for the Phase III clinical trial of India’s indigenous one-shot dengue vaccine, DengiAll, developed by Panacea Biotec, is expected to be completed by October across 20 centres in the country, according to scientists at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). So far, 8,000 participants across centres in Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Bhubaneswar and other cities have received either the vaccine or a placebo as part of the ongoing trial. The study is sponsored jointly by ICMR and Panacea Biotec, news agency PTI reported.
The trial is being co-led by ICMR-National Institute of Translational Virology and AIDS Research in Pune, the National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE) in Chennai, and the National Institute of Virology, Pune. India currently has no licensed vaccine or antiviral treatment for dengue.
Dr Manoj Murhekar, Director of NIE, stated that the results of the Phase I/II trials raised no safety concerns regarding the vaccine. Participants in the current Phase III trial will be monitored for two years to assess the efficacy of the tetravalent vaccine, which is designed to protect against all four dengue virus serotypes.
Launched in August last year, this multi-centre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled Phase III trial aims to evaluate the safety, efficacy and long-term immune response of the vaccine. The first volunteer was vaccinated at Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak.
Dr Murhekar explained that dengue vaccine development is particularly challenging because it must be effective against all four virus serotypes. These serotypes (DENV-1 to DENV-4) offer limited cross-protection, meaning individuals can be reinfected multiple times.
All four serotypes are known to circulate or co-circulate in many regions of India. The Union Health Ministry earlier noted that the tetravalent vaccine strain used in DengiAll (TV003/TV005), originally developed by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), has already shown promising results in clinical trials conducted in Brazil.