Gujarat, three northeast states more vulnerable to dengue occurrences: ICMR

In India,Gujaratand three northeastern states are at the greatest risk of high repeat incidence of dengue. This observation is derived from a mammoth survey that began in January 2014, in which 2.11 lakhdenguecases across India were analyzed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (Icmr)-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai.

By early 2018, the institution had collected details of IgM antibodies or NS1 antigen against thedengue virusfrom 51 Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDLs) spread across India.

ICMR-NIE epidemiologists found that across almost 85% of Gujarats area, the dengue incidence rate was between 29 and 54 cases for the same geographical location between January 2014 and early January 2018. The scientists had used the Kriging technique to draw a heat map for the country, clearly marking out the areas with a high dengue incidence rate.