Abstract
BackgroundInfluenza vaccine composition is reevaluated each year due to the frequency and accumulation of genetic changes that influenza viruses undergo. The beginning of the 2016–2017 influenza surveillance period in Israel has been marked by the dominance of influenza A(H3N2). ObjectivesTo evaluate the type, subtype, genetic evolution and amino acid substitutions of influenza A(H3N2) viruses detected among community patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) and hospitalized patients with respiratory illness in the first weeks of the 2016–2017 influenza season. Study designRespiratory samples from community patients with influenza-like illness and from hospitalized patients underwent identification, subtyping and molecular characterization. Hemagglutinin sequences were compared to the vaccine strain, phylogenetic tree was created, and amino acid substitutions were determined. ResultsInfluenza A(H3N2) predominated during the early stages of the 2016–2017 influenza season. Noticeably, approximately 20% of community patients and 36% of hospitalized patients, positive for influenza3), received the 2016–2017 influenza vaccine. The influenza A(H3N2) viruses demonstrated genetic divergence from the vaccine strain into three separate subgroups within the 3C.2a clade. One resembled the new 3C.2a1 subclade, one resembled the recently proposed 3C.2a2 subclade and the other was not previously described. Diversity was observed within each subgroup, in terms of additional amino acid substitutions. ConclusionsCharacterization of the 2016–2017 A(H3N2) influenza viruses is imperative for determining the future influenza vaccine composition.
Highlights
Influenza vaccine composition is reevaluated each year due to the frequency and accumulation of genetic changes that influenza viruses undergo
A total of 11 (20%) individuals who were infected with influenza A(H3N2) received the influenza vaccine 14 days or more prior to developing influenza-like illness (ILI)
Surveillance of influenza viruses at the beginning of the influenza season is of paramount importance for evaluation of current infecting viruses and preparation of the appropriate season vaccine
Summary
Influenza vaccine composition is reevaluated each year due to the frequency and accumulation of genetic changes that influenza viruses undergo. Objectives: To evaluate the type, subtype, genetic evolution and amino acid substitutions of influenza A(H3N2) viruses detected among community patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) and hospitalized patients with respiratory illness in the first weeks of the 2016–2017 influenza season. Influenza vaccine composition is evaluated each year due to the frequency and accumulation of genetic changes that influenza viruses undergo. The beginning of the 2016–2017 influenza surveillance period in Israel has been marked by the dominance of influenza A(H3N2) virus infection both among community and hospitalized patients. It is of paramount importance to detect AA substitutions in the circulating influenza A(H3N2) viruses relative to the recommended vaccine strain as early in the influenza season as possible. We analyzed influenza A(H3N2) viruses detected early in the season in respiratory samples of influenza patients that
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