Community-Based Surveillance of Dengue and Chikungunya
This prospective multicenter cohort study was conducted to generate community based estimates of acute febrile illness (AFI), dengue, and chikungunya in India. A total of 770 participants (>2 years) were enrolled in September 2023 and followed for 52 weeks, with baseline and endline serosurveys. The study achieved 99.6% retention, with dengue seroprevalence rising slightly from 90.1% to 91.6% and chikungunya seroprevalence from 48.8% to 49.0% over one year. Among 387 fever cases, 200 qualified as AFI, with 17 confirmed dengue, 7 chikungunya, and isolated cases of scrub typhus and leptospirosis; no malaria or typhoid were detected. The project demonstrated the feasibility of high quality community surveillance, provided critical epidemiological data on dengue and chikungunya, and is contributing to evidence for vector-borne disease control policies and vaccine preparedness in India.