Abstract
While vaccination is considered the most effective means to prevent influenza infection, its seasonal effectiveness varies, depending on the circulating influenza strains. Here, we characterized the circulation of influenza strains in October-2018 and March-2019 around the world. For this, we used nasopharyngeal samples collected from outpatient and hospitalized patients in Israel and data reported in ECDC, CDC, and WHO databases. Influenza A(H3N2) was dominant in Israel, while in Europe, Asia, and USA, A(H1N1)pdm09 virus circulated first, and then the A(H3N2) virus also appeared. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that A(H3N2) viruses circulating in Israel belonged to clade-3C.3a, while in Europe, Asia, and USA, A(H3N2) viruses belonged to subclade-3C.2a1, but were later replaced by clade-3C.3a viruses in USA. The vaccine A(H3N2) components of that year, A/Singapore/INFIMH-16-0019/2016-(H3N2)-like-viruses, belonged to clade-3C.2a1. The circulation of different influenza subtypes and clades of A(H3N2) viruses in a single season highlights the need for universal influenza vaccines.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 375 |
Journal | Vaccines |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding: For the purpose of Open Access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. This work was supported in part by the Francis Crick Institute which receives its core funding from Cancer Research UK (FC001030), the UK Medical Research Council (FC001030), and the Wellcome Trust (FC001030).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Circulation
- Clade
- Influenza A
- Vaccine
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology
- Pharmacology
- Drug Discovery
- Infectious Diseases
- Pharmacology (medical)