Abstract
We report a summer influenza epidemic caused by co-circulation of multiple influenza A(H3N2) variants in clade 3C.2a. Compared with other clades, a putative clade 3C.2a.3a was more commonly isolated from severely ill patients; 3C.2a.4 was more commonly isolated in outbreak cases. Time from vaccination to illness onset was significantly shorter in severely ill patients infected with clade 3C.2a.3; characteristics and outcomes of patients infected with different clades were similar. No resistance to antiviral medications was found.
Highlights
We report a summer influenza epidemic caused by co-circulation of multiple influenza A(H3N2) variants in clade 3C.2a
We found a total of 153 isolates in this group among which we noticed a distinct group of variants carrying T135K and R150K (n = 109) while the remainder were clade 3C.2a.3 isolates (n = 44; characterised by N121K and S144K substitutions, with or without S219Y)
We described the emergence of variant influenza A(H3N2) viruses in Taiwan during a summer wave of the 2016/17 influenza season
Summary
Influenza A(H3N2) virus variants and patient characteristics during a summer influenza epidemic in Taiwan, 2017. We report a summer influenza epidemic caused by co-circulation of multiple influenza A(H3N2) variants in clade 3C.2a. Influenza A(H3N2) virus variants carrying substitutions N121K, S144K and T135K have been reported in Canada, Denmark, Israel and the United Kingdom (UK), causing outbreaks during the northern hemisphere 2016/17 influenza season and suboptimal vaccine effectiveness (VE) [1,2,3,4,5]. We performed a phylogenetic analysis of the variants and analysed the characteristics of patients with severe illness to fill the gap between knowledge about virological characteristics and their possible implications for public health practice
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