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21 Jul 2026SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY3 questions

Four Serotypes, One Vaccine: Why India's First Dengue Approval Took This Long

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Article summary

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation has granted marketing authorisation to the Dengue Tetravalent Vaccine (Live, Attenuated), marketed as Qdenga, making it the first dengue vaccine approved for use in India. It is manufactured by Takeda GmbH of Germany and imported by Takeda Biopharmaceuticals India, and is cleared for persons aged 4 to 60 years. The vaccine is built by recombinant DNA technology in Vero cells, with genes encoding the surface proteins of each dengue serotype engineered onto a dengue virus type-2 backbone, so that a single product raises immunity against all four serotypes at once. Approval followed evaluation of quality, safety and efficacy under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Drugs Rules, 1945. Dengue is endemic across most Indian States, and the approval marks a shift from purely vector-control strategies toward immunisation.

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recallTests whether you read the article and retained key facts.
1Q
applicationTests whether you can apply the concept to a new scenario.
1Q
analysisTests whether you can reason across multiple related facts.
1Q

Sample questions — answers revealed after test

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYRecallEasy

Q1. With reference to the dengue vaccine approved by the CDSCO, which one of the following statements is correct?

AIt is an indigenously developed vaccine manufactured in India from an Indian viral strain.
BIt is a tetravalent live attenuated vaccine, meaning it targets all four dengue serotypes with a weakened form of the virus.
CIt is an inactivated vaccine effective against a single dengue serotype.
DIt is a vaccine against dengue that also confers protection against chikungunya and Zika.
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYApplicationMedium

Q2. A dengue vaccine must protect against all four serotypes in a balanced way. Which one of the following best explains why balanced tetravalent protection is a design requirement rather than a mere convenience?

ABecause a person can only be infected by one serotype in a lifetime, so all four must be covered at once.
BBecause partial immunity to some serotypes can, through antibody-dependent enhancement, worsen a subsequent infection by another serotype, so unbalanced protection may increase the risk of severe dengue.
CBecause the four serotypes circulate only in separate geographic regions that must each be covered.
DBecause a single-serotype vaccine would be more expensive to manufacture than a tetravalent one.
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYAnalysisHard

Q3. Consider the following statements regarding dengue and its vaccine: 1. Dengue is transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes, which also transmit chikungunya and Zika, and which breed in clean stagnant water in and around dwellings. 2. The approved vaccine was granted marketing authorisation by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Drugs Rules, 1945. 3. Because an effective vaccine now exists, vector-control measures against Aedes mosquitoes are no longer relevant to dengue prevention in India. Which of the statements given above are correct?

A1 and 2 only
B1 only
C2 and 3 only
D1, 2 and 3
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