Abstract
BackgroundInfluenza pandemics are usually caused by the re-assortment of several influenza viruses, results in the emergence of new influenza virus strains that can infect the entire population. These pandemic strains, as well as seasonal influenza viruses, are subjected to extensive antigenic change that has, so far, prevented the generation of a universal vaccine.MethodsSamples of patients hospitalized due to infection with the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus (A(H1N1)pdm09) from 2009, when the virus first appeared, until 2013 were analyzed.ResultsWhile many patients were hospitalized in 2009 due to infection with the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, only small percentages of patients were hospitalized later in 2010–2012. Surprisingly, however in 2012–2013, we noticed that the percentages of patients hospitalized due to the pandemic H1N1 influenza infection increased significantly. Moreover, the ages of hospitalized patients differed throughout this entire period (2009–2013) and pregnant women were especially vulnerable to the infection.ConclusionsHigh percentages of patients (especially pregnant women) were hospitalized in 2013 due to the A(H1N1)pdm09 infection, which may have been enabled by an antigenic drift from those which circulated at the onset of the pandemic.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-014-0710-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Influenza pandemics are usually caused by the re-assortment of several influenza viruses, results in the emergence of new influenza virus strains that can infect the entire population
High percentages of patients were hospitalized in 2013 due to the A (H1N1)pdm09 infection, which may have been enabled by an antigenic drift from those which circulated at the onset of the pandemic
Rebound of pandemic H1N1 influenza We demonstrate in this paper that the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus reappeared in Israel in 2012– 2013
Summary
Influenza pandemics are usually caused by the re-assortment of several influenza viruses, results in the emergence of new influenza virus strains that can infect the entire population These pandemic strains, as well as seasonal influenza viruses, are subjected to extensive antigenic change that has, so far, prevented the generation of a universal vaccine. In influenza virus-infected cells, the assembly and the budding of progeny viruses is the final and critical step in the life cycle of the virus This step, which significantly affects disease progression [4], requires the coordinated localization of the viral HA and NA proteins to lipid rafts domains on the apical cell membrane [5,6,7]. Membrane localization of HA and NA allows the virus to acquire these glycoproteins by budding through the host
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