Scientists from India Discover That Dengue Is Causing SAR-CoV-2 Strains to Mutate Faster in Certain Geolocations
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Apr 17, 2025 1 day, 22 hours, 21 minutes ago
Medical News: Dengue Might Have Played a Key Role in Shaping the Evolution of COVID Variants in Tropical Regions
In a remarkable new study, Indian scientists have uncovered evidence suggesting that in regions where dengue is common, the antibodies produced during dengue infections may have played a surprising role in driving the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This strange immunological cross-talk may have helped shape the mutations found in later COVID-19 variants like Delta and Omicron. The researchers believe this phenomenon explains why some parts of the world experienced milder COVID outbreaks, while others faced more deadly waves.
Scientists from India Discover That Dengue Is Causing SAR-CoV-2 Strains to Mutate Faster in Certain Geolocations
The study was conducted by researchers from the Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division at the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, and the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) in Ghaziabad, India. This
Medical News report dives deep into their findings and its implications for global public health strategies.
Mutual Cross-Reactivity Between Dengue and COVID-19
At the heart of the study is the discovery of how antibodies generated in response to the dengue virus—widespread in regions such as India, Southeast Asia, and parts of South America—can cross-react with the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. This cross-reactivity appears to have offered some level of immune protection against early COVID-19 variants.
In fact, during the early pandemic waves in 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 severity and death rates were notably lower in dengue-endemic countries like India compared to non-endemic nations such as those in Europe and North America. The researchers hypothesized that dengue antibodies (DV Abs) could “cross-neutralize” SARS-CoV-2 in these regions. However, as the pandemic continued, the virus began to mutate in such a way that these cross-reactive dengue antibodies became less effective.
How Dengue Antibodies Might Have Shaped COVID-19 Variants
To explore this theory, the team conducted detailed structural analyses and computational docking simulations. They focused on how dengue antibodies interact with various SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variants—specifically B.1.1.7 (Kent), B.1.617 (Delta), B.1.617.2.1 (Delta Plus), and B.1.1.529 (Omicron-BA.1 and BA.2).
Their experiments revealed a striking trend: as SARS-CoV-2 evolved over time, its spike protein acquired more mutations, especially in regions that previously interacted with dengue antibodies. These changes reduced the antibodies’ ability to bind to the spike protein, enabling the virus to escape immune detection.
This selective pressure exerted by dengue antibodies seemed to drive the virus toward variants that could evade not only COVID-specific antibodies but also dengue-induced ones. Later variants like Omicron showed far less cross-reactivity with dengue antibodies,
supporting the idea that the virus was evolving in response to this dual immune threat.
Experimental Confirmation Through Peptide ELISA Tests
To back up their computational models, the scientists synthesized four short stretches of the original SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and tested whether they would bind to dengue-positive serum samples collected before the pandemic. The results confirmed that dengue-infected individuals had antibodies capable of recognizing and reacting with these parts of the spike protein.
Moreover, as the virus mutated, particularly in the Omicron-BA.2 variant, many of these reactive regions were deleted altogether—another strong sign that the virus was adapting to avoid recognition by pre-existing dengue immunity.
A Two-Way Relationship Between the Viruses
Interestingly, earlier in the pandemic, antibodies from COVID-19 patients were also found to cross-react with dengue virus proteins and even showed a capacity to neutralize dengue virus in lab tests. This two-way immunological cross-protection might explain the lower dengue case numbers in certain regions during COVID surges and vice versa.
However, this relationship began to unravel with newer SARS-CoV-2 variants. Antibodies from Omicron-infected patients lost much of their cross-reactive power, especially against dengue virus type 3 (DV3). In fact, instead of neutralizing DV3, these antibodies sometimes made the infection worse—a phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). This may explain why there was a sudden global surge in DV3 cases during the Omicron waves in 2022–2023.
Why COVID-19 Vanished from Dengue Hotspots
The study suggests a bold conclusion: the reason COVID-19 seems to have faded out from dengue-endemic regions might be due to the persistent immune pressure from dengue antibodies. These antibodies forced SARS-CoV-2 to mutate excessively—especially in its spike protein—leading to what's known in virology as "error catastrophe." In simpler terms, the virus changed so much to escape immune detection that it eventually sabotaged its own ability to replicate efficiently.
The authors noted that while Omicron variants like BA.2 could evade dengue antibodies, they also accumulated so many changes that their ability to cause widespread infections diminished in dengue-prevalent populations. Meanwhile, in non-dengue regions like the US or parts of Europe, SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate, as these populations lack the same antibody pressure.
Key Findings and Their Broader Significance
-Dengue antibodies showed strong binding to the original Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 spike but significantly less to later variants.
-Structural modeling revealed that the spike protein's Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) evolved from an “up” position (easier for antibodies to target) to a “down” position (better at hiding from immune detection).
-Newer variants, especially Omicron BA.2, had multiple mutations and even deletions in the regions previously targeted by dengue antibodies.
-Peptide-based lab tests confirmed that pre-pandemic dengue serum could still bind to key spike regions, supporting the in-silico docking results.
-SARS-CoV-2’s evolving escape from dengue antibody pressure may have inadvertently made the virus more transmissible or virulent in other regions.
Conclusions
This groundbreaking research reveals how a common tropical virus like dengue might have unexpectedly influenced the global evolution of COVID-19. The interaction between dengue antibodies and SARS-CoV-2 forced the virus to mutate rapidly in certain regions, potentially leading to milder outbreaks but also contributing to the rise of immune-escape variants. These findings underscore the complex ways in which viruses can shape each other's evolution, especially in overlapping endemic areas. Understanding this interaction could be vital in preparing for future pandemics where cross-reactive immune pressures may influence how new pathogens behave and spread.
The study findings were published on a preprint server and are currently being peer reviewed.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.13.648564v1
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