Human influenza A viruses are classic examples of antigenically variable pathogens that have a seemingly endless capacity to evade the host's immune response. The viral hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) proteins are the main targets of our antibody response to combat infections. HA and NA continuously change to escape from humoral immunity, a process known as antigenic drift. As a resul...

Rapid identification of influenza antigenic variants will be critical in selecting optimal vaccine candidates and thus a key to developing an effective vaccination program. Recent studies suggest that multiple simultaneous mutations at antigenic sites accumulatively enhance antigenic drift of influenza A viruses. However, pre-existing methods on antigenic variant identification are based on ana...

The rapid evolution of influenza viruses presents difficulties in maintaining the optimal efficiency of vaccines. Amino acid substitutions result in antigenic drift, a process whereby antisera raised in response to one virus have reduced effectiveness against future viruses. Interestingly, while amino acid substitutions occur at a relatively constant rate, the antigenic properties of H3 move in...

In recent years a number of studies have brought attention to the role of positive selection during the evolution of antigenic escape by influenza strains. Particularly, the identification of positively selected sites within antigenic domains of viral surface proteins has been used to suggest that the evolution of viral-host receptor binding specificity is driven by selection. Here we show that...

BACKGROUND The genetic and antigenic characteristics of influenza A viruses (IAV) within and between species change over time due to antigenic shift and drift. Although pigs are known to play a key role in the epidemiology of IAV between species, little is known about the molecular evolution of IAV hemagglutinin (HA) in pigs. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the HA drift of an...

UNLABELLED In 2009, a novel H1N1 influenza A virus (2009 pH1N1) emerged and caused a pandemic. A human monoclonal antibody (hMAb; EM4C04), highly specific for the 2009 pH1N1 virus hemagglutinin (HA), was isolated from a severely ill 2009 pH1N1 virus-infected patient. We postulated that under immune pressure with EM4C04, the 2009 pH1N1 virus would undergo antigenic drift and mutate at sites that...

The Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 is spreading to numerous countries and causing many human deaths. Although the symptoms in humans are mild at present, fears are that further mutations in the virus could lead to a potentially more dangerous outbreak in subsequent months. As the primary immunity-eliciting antigen, hemagglutinin (HA) is the major agent for host-driven antigenic drift in A(H3N2) virus. Ho...

results out of 253 cases confirmed for influenza a (h1n1), 9 women and 11men had died. amongst these cases the minimum and maximum age was3.5 and90 years, respectively. also, from the 20 confirmed cases of influenza a (h1n1) that had died, 16 cases had at least one underlying disease. conclusions there was no significant association between mortality of confirmed cases of influenza a (h1n1) and...