Abstract
Influenza is caused by influenza viruses that belong to the Orthomyxoviridae family and have a segmented RNA genome. Influenza virus types A and B cause more than 99.9% of all the influenza cases that occur every winter season in countries with a temperate climate; influenza type C is not a significant pathogen. The incidence varies from year to year, as group A viruses may change the prevalent subtype (e.g., from H1N1 to H3N2 or vice versa), or because of antigenic «drift» within the subtype. Point mutations on genes encoding the two surface proteins of influenza viruses, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), are called antigenic drift and allow the viruses to evade immune defenses developed by individuals as a result of previous infections or vaccination. Variability due to antigenic drift is significantly more common among A viruses, in particular, the A/H3N2 subtype. Influenza B viruses are more stable with regard to antigenic drift, but they frequently switch the prevalent lineage for the epidemic season (see below). Major mutations (antigenic shift) that occur only in influenza A viruses by reassortment of the RNA genome can cause pandemics because previous immunity is not effective against such a completely different virus. Examples of antigenic shift are the emergence of «Asian influenza» in 1957 (H2N2), «Hong Kong flu» in 1968 (H3N2), and «swine flu» in 2009 (H1N1sw or H1N1pdm09).
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Vesikari, T., Esposito, S. (2017). Influenza Vaccines. In: Vesikari, T., Van Damme, P. (eds) Pediatric Vaccines and Vaccinations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59952-6_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59952-6_14
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